Repercussions
by Sorrow Reminisce
Summary: When Logan arrives in TC with a cure for the virus, Alec begins a jealosy game which spirals dangerously out of control... MA
1. December 13 2021 to December 14 2021

**Repercussions**

**by Sorrow (Reminisce)**

And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down.  
Without the rain, there would be no rainbow.  
-

**December 13, 2021**

Five days ago Logan arrived at Max's apartment in Terminal City clutching a bottle of pre-pulse champagne in one hand and a neatly gift-wrapped box in the other. Thus changing Max's life in a way she never would have anticipated…

_- flashback - _  
Max stood frozen in the doorway, uncertainty marring her features as her eyes met those of the widely-grinning man standing on the threshold.

A voice laughed behind her. "So Max, are you gonna stand there gaping or let the guy in?"

Logan's smile faltered as his gaze shifted beyond Max to fall upon Alec who stood in the middle of the room, his hand paused in mid-air before a large dry branch semi-decorated with crudely made tree ornaments.

"Hey Alec. Nice… tree." Logan's words were clipped, his expression tight as he tried to hide his distaste at seeing the X5 in Max's apartment. "You're probably not aware of the traditions of Christmas, but it's customary to use fresh pine or even artificial -"

"I'm aware of that Logan." Alec's reply was abrupt and Max turned towards him, watching how his jaw tightened in the effort to hold in a more cutting remark. "But these days, it's just so hard for a transgenic to find a decent pine in the outside world, and strangely enough, the stores in Terminal City are all closed."

Logan ignored the remark and slid past Max to the box of decorations, placing his champagne on the table as he picked up a painted matchbox and toyed with the attached string, eyeing the object critically as if he were trying to discern the random brush strokes that decorated it.

Max stepped forward. "Dalton made it. Joshua's been taking classes."

"Yeah." Logan raised an eyebrow. "I can tell."

"So what are you doing here Logan?" Alec took the decoration out of Logan's hand and placed it on the branch.

"Actually, I'm here to see Max." He frowned impatiently, annoyed at having to explain himself to the transgenic.

Alec shrugged. "Well buddy, far be it for me to stand in your way." His gaze hovered on Max for a moment before he turned to pick another ornament from the box.

Realising Alec wasn't going to leave, Logan walked across to Max, eyes alit with excitement once more as he held the small gift towards her in two trembling hands.

"Max… I have the cure."

As the words fell, all movement in the room froze, rendering the two transgenics in the room incapable of movement.

Unabashed, Logan opened the box and withdrew a hypodermic needle filled with clear fluid.

As realisation of his words sunk in, Max felt a smile spread across her face, washing away all efforts she'd made in the past weeks to put her 'relationship' with Logan behind her. Blindly oblivious to the shock etched on Alec's face across the room, she wordlessly allowed Logan to inject into her arm the one thing she never thought they'd ever have - a cure for the virus that had kept them apart for so long.

Only when the fluid had passed into her veins did she recover her senses in time to notice Alec had made a silent retreat across the room and out the front door.

Somewhere in the back of Max's conscience, a doubt came to mind.  
_- end flashback - _

For five days now, Max had avoided Logan. Instead she'd thrown herself into her work; going over combat manoeuvres with the X6's (they had taught her a lot in the past couple of months), accompanying Alec on his supply runs (although their conversations had become noticeably strained during the past week), and avoiding Logan's touch in the same manner she had been doing since the day she'd infected him with the retrovirus. Only now, she had no excuse to avoid his touch.

Alone in her apartment, she sat on her bed and reflected upon the repercussions of Logan's gift. She knew she had to confront him with some plausible excuse as to why she had been hiding these past few days. So for how much longer could she put this event off?

"Lost in thought there?"

Max spun around to discover Alec had stepped into her room, quietly closing the door behind him. The perpetual wry grin was shadowed by another expression, one she wanted to hide from nearly as much as she wanted to hide from Logan.

"Great. What do you want?"

She spoke in a tone that suggested she wanted his company the way she wanted to converse with an eel. Being that this was Max's customary greeting, Alec was undeterred by her response. Rather than take the remark as a hint to leave, he chose to perceive it as an invitation to step further into the room and sit on the unmade bed beside her.

"What's up Max? You've been acting weird since…" He laughed as he scratched the side of his head. "Well, ever since I've known you really. But even more so since Loggie turned up with Love Potion Number Nine. Care to share?"

She chose not to reply and instead wondered how she could get him to leave her alone, so she could wallow in her thoughts once more.

"Why don't you go to him Max? There's nothing stopping you now. The guy obviously loves you. I mean, he gave up a cool forty grand for the cure."

The words left Alec with a bitter taste in his mouth. It was all he could do not to gag. But he had to try and make a show of good sportsmanship. After all, he could hardly expect her to choose him over the guy she'd been pining for since time immemorial. And besides that point, he was sick to death with all the moping. Someone in this god-forsaken place deserved to be happy. Even if it wasn't him.

"Come on," He gave Max a playful nudge with his elbow, hoping to break her stony expression with a smile - a grimace of annoyance even. "Tell Uncle Alec all about it…"

Max shuddered at the title Alec had given himself in jest, not understanding why the suggestion of him being of relation to her could be so vulgar.

"Please don't relate yourself to me as family Alec."

She threw the reply to him as one would throw a cat out a window. Cold and cruel. It wasn't the tone she'd intended, but hearing him sit here and tell her she should disappear into the sunset with Logan tore apart her insides. She couldn't understand the turmoil within her, she couldn't understand why these were the last words she ever wanted to hear Alec say, and so she had lashed out.

She regretted this instantly when his playful smile died and he replied in a quiet voice, "Well I'm sorry Max - for ever presuming we'd come far enough together that you could consider me something more than your pesky uninvited sidekick."

Max sat in silence, eying him warily, taking in his bowed head and look of dejection - waiting to see if this humility was merely part of some little game of his.

Finally Alec raised his head and looked directly into her eyes, searching them for some kind of response when it appeared she had no intention of using her voice to communicate. But she'd masked her face so well, her expression was unreadable.

Swallowing back a sigh, or perhaps a plea for forgiveness for every horrible thing he had ever unknowingly done to cause her hate, Alec pulled his eyes away and rose to his feet. He paused before the door, a grim smile on his face as he remembered the reason why he'd come to her room in the first place.

"Logan's been driving everyone crazy asking about you."

Her expression jumped to life at this, and Alec found the last five days worth of frustration rising to his throat like bile.

"Why Max? Why have you been with me these past few days and not lover-boy? Why have you been at my side on tasks I can perform by myself, rather than making up for lost time with Logan? There's nothing stopping you two from getting busy now. We don't need to carry out this little charade of being together - you don't need me anymore."

"Yes I do!" Max found her voice at last, and pleaded with him now to understand. A difficult task when she could barely comprehend her own emotions.

"I need you to help me Alec, while I work out some things in my head. Just give me until after Christmas please?"

She couldn't believe she was begging but more to the point, she couldn't understand why she was begging. The words had simply leapt from her mouth of their own accord, but it was too late to take them back.

"After Christmas? Gee thanks Max. It's not enough to drag me into your little world of lies every other day so now you've gotta screw up Christmas for me too?"

He laughed bitterly. "Not that the occasion actually means anything to me. In fact, far be it for me to wish for one day when I can forget about the siege, forget about being hunted and forget that I'm totally and utterly alone - and actually try to enjoy my life!"

Max stood up and walked towards him but he held his hands up, signalling for her to come no closer.

"Quit it. Quit looking at me with pity. You're just as alone and lost in this world as I am. The difference is, you seem to enjoy being miserable and apparently intend to drag everyone else down into your misery with you."

He turned away but she grabbed his arm and held him in place, pinning him with her angry glare.

"What?" Max's eyes were aflame but her voice froze him to the bone. "Do you think I've enjoyed having to shy away from the person I love all this year in case I kill him? Do you think I've enjoyed having to satisfy my need for human contact by turning to you and carrying on this little relationship game when I could in fact be indulging in the real thing?

"Yeah I do Max. I think you've enjoyed all of this." He gritted his teeth to stop himself from revealing how much her words had hurt. "Because it seems that as long as I'm miserable - you're happy."

"Do you think you're that important to me Alec, that I'd base my entire happiness on you?" Max regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth. As soon as she caught the look of anguish on his face.

"I know I'm not that important Max. That's just the problem."

Pulling his arm away, Alec turned and pulled open the door, ignoring Max as she called out for him to stop. Ignoring the surprised look on Original Cindy's face as she stood in the hallway, hand frozen in mid-air as she had been about to open the door. Wordlessly, his face set in a grim mask, Alec strode from the room and left gaping silence behind him

In the doorway of the rundown apartment, OC recovered over the initial shock of seeing Alec leave in such a storm and slipped quietly into her friend's room. Max had sunk down onto the edge of the bed and was staring brokenly into thin air.

"Hey it's okay Boo."

Max made no attempt to acknowledge her words and so OC simply took a seat and waited for her friend to speak in her own time. She understood Max's dilemma with Alec, more so than Max herself. But rather than broach the subject, she knew it was a realisation Max had to come to by herself.

Original Cindy just hoped her friend wouldn't take as long to discover who was right for her as she had in accepting who was wrong for her. She didn't want to have to put up with all this angst for yet another year.

**December 14, 2021**

The Ark was in full swing tonight. Every transgenic and his dog, as well as every dog-like transgenic were apparently making the most of the alcohol supply Alec had recently roped in.

Alec sat at the bar and smiled as he watched Original Cindy run over some dance moves with a couple of Nomolies. She seemed to have taken a particular affection to Sanderman's first experiments, and they appreciated her attention. Nearly every transgenic held a childhood fear of the creatures that had existed in Manticore's basement, but OC looked beyond their frightening appearances and accepted what she saw within.

"Here's your drink 49 - Alec."

Alec turned to the redhead who had appeared beside him and took the beer from her hand.

"You know, I'm glad you convinced me to come out tonight Match. It's good to have a friend here." He stared belatedly into his glass. "However, it'd be even better, to have a friend named Scotch."

Match laughed and punched him playfully, causing Alec to wince. Not from the punch itself, but at how she had resembled Max at that moment. "Hey, wipe that sad look off your face. I can change my name!"

Alec grinned and quirked an eyebrow playfully. "Sure. But can you turn yourself into a spirit and squeeze into a bottle?"

"Now Alec, are you wanting here? A bottle of alcohol - or a genie?"

"Hmm, good point." The glass of beer paused before his lips as he considered this. "A genie grants wishes right?"

Match laughed, "Well so does the Scotch if you drink enough of it."

"Depends on the wish." Alec swallowed back a mouthful of cool liquid, his eyes staring sightlessly at the opposite wall.

"Well, what did you have in mind?" The redhead sidled closer to Alec and ran a finger provocatively along his arm, causing him to break his staring competition with the wall and turn his gaze to her. There was no doubting the invitation in her eyes as they slid hungrily over his body.

Shaking his head, Alec laughed softly and raised the glass to his lips once again, only to have the contents trickle down the front of his shirt as he turned to see Max walk towards the bar and scowl on face, Logan in tow.

* * *

"Max. Why do we have to come here?" Logan stepped around a group of dancing transhumans and struggled to keep up with the X5. "I have a perfectly good bottle of wine and penne back at Sandeman's…"

Max ploughed on through the swarm of people and rolled her eyes to herself. Pasta. Like she hadn't eaten enough of that to sink a boat.

"Look Logan, you don't have to be here, feel free to go home and eat all the pasta you like. I promised Alec last week that I'd meet him here and I can't just bail without warning."

Logan bristled at the mention of Alec's name - again. Why did she have to keep throwing him in her face? Oh. That's right. Because he was her 'boyfriend'. Whatever.  
Determined to claim Max back as his own, he grabbed hold of her hand and allowed her to lead him to the bar.

Max barely stopped herself from tugging her hand away as she felt Logan slip his warm fingers through hers. Months of fearfully avoiding contact for risk of transmitting the retro-virus had left Max with a sense of caution she still couldn't quite shake, and the feeling of Logan's hand entwined with her own remained an awkward sensation.

As she pushed forward through the crowd, the throng of people before her parted and she spotted Original Cindy returning to Alec's side from the dance floor and signal for a new round of beers. Forgetting Logan attached to her hand, she smiled and made her way towards them. But as her mouth opened to yell a greeting, her gaze fell upon a redhead who was busy running a finger up Alec's taut toned arm. Rolling her eyes, Max shifted her focus to Alec, who appeared to be lapping up the girl's attention like a starved drooling puppy.

Suddenly provoked by their show, Max felt anger blaze from deep within and the hand that had lain so limply in Logan's, now gripped him with fierce determination. Obviously Alec was wasting no time in reclaiming his standing among the free and single.

"What the hell are you doing?" Max spoke through gritted teeth as she came to a halt before him. "Is this the way we're gonna end it?"

Alec's jaw dropped in bewilderment as he looked down to Max's hand - tightly clutched in Logan's - and then back up to her face once more. Bewildered still. "Huh?"

"You and I - we need to talk." Max wrenched her hand free and grabbed Alec roughly by the arm, hauling him towards the exit and out into the frozen night.

"What the hell are you doing Max?"

Alec's voice and oxygen supply were promptly expelled from his body as she hurtled him against a wall, pinning him in place as she jammed her forearm against his throat.

"You said you'd carry out our relationship ruse until after Christmas remember? Now once again, I recall why I should never rely on you to keep a promise."

"But I wasn't doing anything!" Alec's voice took on the tone of a wrongly accused child as he struggled to work out what Max's problem was. Well, her current problem at least. "And if I was, would it matter? You've got Romeo back now so what do you care?"

Max bit off her next remark as she searched her mind for an answer to that particularly awkward question. No insight was forthcoming and so she covered up her uncertainty with a half-truth.

"It matters because now I have to face Logan and the rest of TC as the jilted ex-girlfriend! And like everything else that goes wrong in my world, it's all your fault - jackass!"

Alec's patience snapped and he pulled Max's arm from his throat, swinging her into the wall and pinning both of her hands above her head as he leant in, his body pressed close to her own to restrict the possibility of an unwelcome knee to the groin.

"You're jealous aren't you Max? That's the truth of it - that's why you've been putting off Logan."

Max tried to shrink back from the intensity within Alec's eyes. His warm breath tickled her cheek and she became uncomfortably aware of just how snug his body felt against her own.

"You have no idea what you're talking about..."

Suddenly Alec closed in, his mouth crushed against her own, stealing any further denial as his lips worked against hers, his tongue slipping between her lips, demanding a response as he pressed his body closer, pushing her further into the cold concrete wall.

For a few moments, Max was unsure how to respond and so she stood like a stunned mullet as Alec's hungry kiss caused shockwaves to reverberate through her body. His lips were soft, gentle, probing, but at the same time firm and persistent. Coaxing her to respond, her tongue probing against his own; hesitant at first, then with growing surety as desire began to overwhelm doubt.

The fingers that firmly held her wrists now relaxed their grasp and slipped around her waist. Alec's breathing came fast and urgent as she shifted her body against him and entwined her arms around his neck, drawing him closer still until every hardened part of his body pressed against her.

But when realisation of what they were doing finally struck, Alec found himself being hurled away from Max, as she regained her wits and threw a punch that connected squarely with his face. His head rocked back as she came at him again, but this time he stopped her. Catching her hands as blood ran freely from his nose, he flipped her around so that she faced away from him, and held her struggling body against his chest.

"Stop it Max! Stop trying to run from the things you don't want to face!" His voice begged but she struggled still. "Why can't you just admit you feel something for me and give me a chance?"

"Get you're filthy hands off me Alec! You're a slimy scumbag and I don't wanna ever feel your lecherous lips - or any other part of your body - on me ever again!"

These words struck him harder than her fist, and he threw her away from him, taking up a defensive stance as he awaited further onslaught. He watched as she vigorously wiped the taste of him from her mouth. Eyes that had darkened with desire were now filled with rage as she glared up at him from behind the locks of hair which tumbled across her face.

"You and I were friends Alec. That's all. We were never like that, and never will be. Get that into your twisted little brain."

Without waiting for his response, she turned and disappeared back into The Ark, leaving Alec alone in the middle of the alley, mopping blood from his face. He had kissed her without thought of consequences, and she had returned his kiss – fleeting but fierce. Unwilling to return to the Ark and see Max by the side of Little Logan Love-muffin once more, he turned to leave, his mind still spinning.

"Hey Alec!"

A female's voice rang out behind him and he grinned as he waited for Match to catch.

Two could play at this game.


	2. December 15 2021 to December 16 2021

**Repercussions - Chapter Two**  
------------------------------------  
Repercussion 1. a result or consequence, esp. one that is somewhat removed from the action or event which precipitated it: the repercussions of the war are still keenly felt. 2. recoil after impact; rebound  
-------------------------------------- 

**December 15, 2021**

Max awoke feeling as though she'd been put through a wringer backwards. She rolled over in her bed and tried to block out the light that shone in through tattered curtains. Perhaps she could just sleep the day away.

But the previous night's events ran like a movie through her head, refusing to grant her rest. In retrospect, she had to admit she'd been looking forward to seeing Alec. Since Logan arrived with the cure for all evils, Alec had blocked her out. Sure, they worked together still, but he refused to look her in the eye and barely spoke to her unless it was deemed necessary. Even his usual taunts had ceased.

Max touched her fingers to her lips as she remembered the feelings Alec had provoked within her from his kiss. She had enjoyed it, and truth be told, for a few seconds there she had even felt complete. But Alec was right, she apparently enjoyed wallowing in misery, for not only had she pushed him away but she'd laid a fist into his face - all because she couldn't control her own feelings. She couldn't accept her feelings.

She recalled the sincerity in his voice when he had asked her to give him a chance, and the betrayal in his eyes after she'd punched him by way of reply.

Recoiling from the memory, Max took a deep breath and scrunched her eyes tightly closed. When she opened them again, her sight rested upon the Christmas tree they'd been decorating together until the moment Logan arrived.

Alec had swept her up in his excitement of Christmas - his first Christmas. And for the first time in her life, Max had allowed herself to grow excited about the occasion. Of course, none of them really cared for what the holiday was for, bible study certainly wasn't on the top of anyone's list, but they understood the need to find something in this world to celebrate.

Some of the younger transgenics had even indulged in art classes run by Joshua. Without a huge supply of paint in Terminal City, he'd progressed from paintings to junk sculptures, and headquarters had rapidly begun to fill with his various creations. Alec had thought it a good idea for Joshua to channel his energy into decorations for Christmas, and many had discovered within them, a small spirit for celebration.

The long hours spent together in Terminal City had shown Max a side to Alec she'd never bothered to notice before. Of course, she was still an obnoxious bitch to him half the time, and he remained irritating and at times childlike, but that was the foundations on which their friendship had been built - it was a part of them.

Gradually Max had begun to notice the quirky things Alec did to brighten the passing days of their confinement. Like how he'd searched throughout Terminal City for a suitable Christmas tree for her apartment.

_--- flashback ---  
"For those days when you wake up feeling like a bitch, this might soften the blow you deal me when I arrive on the scene." _

Alec chuckled to himself as he considered his statement. "Therefore, I suggest it be the first thing you look at when you wake up - every morning."

With her mouth set firmly in the mould of her trademark scowl, Max had shoved him away, but as she glanced at the so called 'Christmas Tree' he held outstretched towards her, her eyes held laughter. Just as he had intended.  
--- end flashback ---

The result of his scavenger hunt was a large dry branch, and a box of decorations created by Joshua and the students of his art class. The gifts were perfect. Unusual, definitely against the norm, and beautiful because of that fact. Such a tree would be far more suitable to them than any conventional pine

And then Logan had arrived. Stealing the festivity and happiness from the room like a Grinch. Causing Alec to leave. Turning her whole life inside out. Logan's cure for the virus was not a cure for their unhappiness. She realised that now.

Max's feelings for Alec were mixed up and confused, but she would find a way to bring him back to her, she just had to sort herself out. Closing her eyes, she drifted into daydream as to just how this could be accomplished…

A sudden snort beside Max's ear tore blissful escapism from her grasp and her eyes snapped open in shock. With a great deal of apprehension, she turned slowly over in the bed as she simultaneously wriggled closer to the edge.

The body beside her was covered over by a blanket, only a tuft of mousy brown hair peeking out from the top. Her stomach sank as she recognised that particular tuft, but she had to be sure. Leaning cautiously forward so as not to wake the person, she pulled back the sheet.

Her doe eyes ever-widening in shock, Max lurched out of bed and half crawled to the door. God. How much did she have to drink last night?

As made her way crab-like out of the room, she detected a quiet knock at the front door. Squinting, she glanced out the window. It looked to be 7am. What right did anyone have to be awake at this time?

That thought brought with it a wave of sadness.

Usually by this hour of the morning, Alec would have arrived. He was more of an early bird than she could ever be, in fact she figured he was so just to get her riled up. Right now he'd be perched on her bed, chattering away - mainly to himself, while she would mutter and complain at him to shut up from beneath the blankets. By 7.30 he'd be standing by the kitchen bench, still babbling, while she'd be clumping around the derelict apartment, muttering and complaining while hunting futilely for her boots..

_--- flashback ---  
"I'm sure I put them right here damn it!" _

Laughing, Alec waited until she was just about ready to combust with rage, "Hey Max, did you try checking under the table?"

"Yes! Of course I looked there you idi-"

And turning in the direction of his pointing finger, she spied the elusive footwear - beneath the table.

"Always in the most obvious place Max."

Flying at him, boots in hand, she tried to strike the smirk right off his face. "You planted them there didn't you!"

Eyes widening with mock hurt, he placed a hand across his chest. "What on earth would make you think I'd do a thing like that, Max?"

With a devilish grin, he dodged out of range from his fiery little nemesis.  
--- end flashback ---

Max felt dejected at the memory. Alec enjoyed provoking her as much as she enjoyed insulting him, and his early morning visits had become something she had looked forward. Bummer she hadn't realised so much so until now.

But it wasn't Alec at the door. He would have been here by now. And he would never bother to knock. Given the givens, it was probably just as well. But she had the sinking feeling that after last night, it'd be a while before he came by her place again - if ever.

The knock repeated, bringing Max out of her thoughts. She hesitated before the door. Did she want to face people right now? Couldn't she just pretend she wasn't home?

"You know Max, if you don't open the door, I'm just gonna kick it down."

Max sighed and tugged the door open. Good old OC.

"Hey boo." Cindy stepped forward and hugged her friend. "Just comin' to check my girl's alright."

A sudden high pitched bray broke their embrace, the sound faded into a warble with all the grace of a dying mule.

OC looked with horror towards the bedroom door. "Please don't tell me that's your boy making that racket! I always pictured him to sleep like an angel - not no sufferin' animal."

"It's... Logan."

"Well. To each their own I suppose." Cindy shrugged and walked over to close the bedroom door, unable to resist glancing through the doorway and adding, "I've seen far worse sights than this - in road accidents - but I still think you'd have been better off taking home Mole last night."

Once Max would have been insulted by such a remark. But then again, once Cindy would never dare to say such a thing. But Max had to admit that the sight of Logan lying face up on the bed with drool collecting on the pillow beside him, could not appeal to even the lobotomised. My, times have changed.

"We didn't… at least I don't think we…" Max's voice drifted off as she tried to remember what had happened after they'd arrived here - everything about the previous night had just kinda blurred together after she'd watched the redhead race out the door after Alec.

'Well boo, did you wake up in those clothes, or did you put them on from beside the bed?"

Max looked down at yesterday's clothes with relief. "I woke up in them."

"Well there you go. Nothin' to worry about." OC smiled in equal relief as Max walked across the room, before muttering beneath her breath, "Your breeding line remains untainted."

"I heard that!"

She looked towards the bathroom where Max had begun to run the shower and grinned. "And don't you forget what you heard."

* * *

"Morning sleepyhead." 

The soft feminine voice accompanied by a persistent drip of water upon his head, brought Alec into reality and he opened his eyes to see Match standing over him, dressed in one of his shirts, hair still wet from the shower.

"Hope you don't mind?" She gestured to the clothing she wore and the towel in her hand.

As she stepped back, he sat up from his uncomfortable position on the couch and rubbed at the back of his neck. "Of course not."

She smiled, and moved to stand behind him, her hands coming to rest upon his shoulders as she began to massage away the tension.

He flinched beneath her hands, it had been so long since anyone had touched him - except for Max, but punches didn't count. She hesitated, waiting for a sign to stop or continue.

"Sorry, I'm not used to…" Alec's voice drifted off as he realised just how long it had been since anyone had touched him in such a way.

"I understand." Match did. They'd both grown up in Manticore after all.

"But that doesn't mean I want you to stop."

Once again she put her hands to his shoulders and began to knead at the tightly coiled muscles beneath his skin, slowly but surely working out the kinks.

"I'm sorry for blowing things with you and Max last night."

Match felt him tense up beneath her palms again and instantly regretted her words.

"It's okay. There's never been anything between us anyway."

Neither of the X5's believed the last statement. It was obvious to Match that something had slowly but surely begun to develop between Alec and Max until the ordinary arrived back on the scene bearing his ill-timed gift.

"What's up with Clark Kent anyway? What does she see in the guy? Hell, she's X5, isn't she?"

"I don't think even Max knows what she wants." Alec laughed at the soap opera drama that was Max's life. "He's changed, she's changed - oh, smash the violin already."

"Hey, the girl's gotta wake up eventually. And when she does, she'll wonder what she ever did without you."

Alec reached up and took Match's hands in his own, halting her administrations as he leant his head back against the couch to look up at her. "You know what Match? I may not be there for her if that day ever comes."

He stood from the couch and ran his hands through his hair, "Anyway, we've gotta get outta here. I have to pick up some supplies.." He glanced down at his watch. "In half an hour."

He stopped them at the doorway and turned to Match, his eyes open and unguarded. "Thanks. I'm glad you stayed last night."

Match grinned and linked her arm through his. "That's okay. I'm glad I got to sleep in the bed!"

Alec looked down at Match's arm looped through his own, uncertainty marring his features. Then it passed and he smiled. It was good to have a friend.

* * *

Max stood behind Dix in their recently re-vamped headquarters and watched as he brought up a satellite image of Sector 3 and printed out the map. 

"This is how the area looked ten minutes ago. There's no activity."

"That seems odd at this hour don't you -"

The sound of laughter cut into Max's thought's and she turned to see Alec stroll into headquarters with the flavour of last night hanging off his arm. She stood slack-jawed, taking in their carefree expressions and the fact that the redhead was wearing Alec's clothes.

A slight cough from behind did nothing to bring Max out of her horror, and it was only when Alec looked across the room and met her eyes did she suddenly turn away, face flaming as she realised she'd been gaping.

From the corner of her eye she noticed Alec take a half step towards her before stopping himself, and turning once again to the girl. She looked up and felt her heart drop. Alec's eyes had grown so cold. And it was all her fault.

"Max!"

Max groaned inwardly. Now was not the time to be dealing with this. Slowly she turned towards the source of the sound, her eyes wild with panic as she realised all too late, what was going to be said next.

"Why didn't you wake me before you left?"

In the wake of this bomb, the room grew uncannily quiet. Max stood like a mute, all thought having fled to the same place she wished her body would go - beneath a rock.

"I missed not waking up with you beside me this morning!"

"Oh my god…" She breathed the words so softly, yet everyone in the room heard her. All eyes that had turned to stare at her, now turned respectfully away. All except one pair.

Like a person in shock, Max looked over at Alec, feeling as if the whole world were moving by her in slow motion.

His hard icy stare tore through her, piercing her soul with the same force with which she had laid his heart bare and skewered it.

There would be no redemption for her in this lifetime.

* * *

**December 16, 2021**

Alec hauled the ninth bag of rubbish into the trailer. Who would believe people could have so much junk? Looking up at the abandoned three story building, he mentally calculated how much longer this would take. An hour, maybe more. He was dying for a beer.

"Watch out below!"

A soggy rotting mattress came hurtling out of the top floor window and slammed into the trailer. As a result, two of the rubbish bags catapulted out and hit the pavement like a mini bomb, causing all manner of garbage to scatter around it.

"Thanks!" Alec walked over to the remains of one bag and gave it a kick, sending trash flying. "Cause I didn't have anything better to do you know!"

A head popped out from the window and a bright voice cried, "Sorry!" before disappearing like a jack in the box once again.

"That's okay sweetie, I know you weren't aiming for my head!"

Within the second floor of the building, Max felt the rage within her bubble like lava through her veins. Some jovial god had decided it would be a real laugh if she was stuck in clean up duty with Alec and his new-found love today. She stared up at the ceiling, imploring, "Why?"

It really wasn't funny.

Initially, Max could deal with the banter between the two, believing Alec was doing it to make her jealous. And she didn't complain, didn't tell them to shut up and get a room. Merely accepted this as her penance. She'd even tried to be friendly towards the girl.

"So what's your name?"

'Match."

"Interesting." Sounded a lot like 'Max' with a slur, Max noted jealously. "So how did you come about that one?"

The girl exchanged a knowing look with Alec and smiled wickedly, causing Max's heart to churn even more.

"Because I really ignite in the sack."

As the memory of today's introductions pummelled her head like a hurricane against a small wooden hut, Max began to randomly haul junk out of the window. A computer desk here, a pile of rotting curtains there, some assorted knick knacks…

Completely oblivious to the fact these items were falling on Alec like acme bombs in a roadrunner cartoon, little puffs of smoke and all…

Somewhere in her mind, Max heard a voice shouting at her to stop, but she paid no attention. If Match could do clean up the easy way, so could she.

"Would you stop it!"

Finally, a pair of hands grasped her firmly about the wrists and a pair of angry hazel eyes bored holes into her, snapping Max back into awareness.

Alec glared down at her, ignoring the smouldering fury in her face and the way such a sight wrenched at him inside, and focused instead on his anger. "What the hell is your game Max!"

The eyes that stared up at Alec tore him apart. Knowing all-too-well the jealousy behind her actions, he wanted to release her arms and hold her to him, but he couldn't. She had Logan to do that now.

But he knew she felt something, he saw that last night. He felt her passion in the way they'd kissed, saw it in the way she retaliated against him - against herself. She let her shield slip just long enough for him to see she wanted him as much as he wanted her.

He'd thought that if he just gave her a bit of space, she'd realise what everyone else already knew: Logan was wrong. Not only for her, but for any human, sub-human, super-human or entirely non-human species.

"Why didn't you wake me before you left?"

Now all Alec could hear in his mind was Logan's words inside his head, taunting him.

"I missed not waking up with you beside me this morning!"

He wanted her to tell him it wasn't what he thought, that somehow Logan's words hadn't meant what he thought they did. He wanted to shake her, and make these reassurances fall out of her mouth like change from a vending machine. He wanted to kiss her again, to make her believe…

"Hey, let her go okay?"

Cool hands pried at his fingers, still tightly gripping onto Max's arms. He had lost himself in bitter thought - and left marks upon her skin.

Match released Alec's grip from Max at last and placed a hand upon Alec's arm. Noting the looks they exchanged, Max backed away. They seemed so content in each other's company. Already, Match seemed to know Alec so well.

She felt jealousy brew within her - equal to hate, and stronger than any emotion she'd ever felt. Unable to control these new feelings nor understand them, and not at all willing to try, she turned and strode from the building, not trusting herself to remain in their company a moment longer and wishing only for something she could punch. Repeatedly.

To be continued...


	3. December 17 2021 to December 18 2021

**Repercussions - Chapter Three**

Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned

Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned 

----------------------------------------------------

**December 17, 2021**

Logan was everywhere. It was driving Alec mad. Everywhere he went, it seemed Max was there. And everywhere Max went, Logan was right beside her like an oversized shadow, leering and begging for affection like a dog for a bone. Why did she have to rub him in his face at every given opportunity?

Resentfully, he watched them from across the room as he sat eating his lunch. She looked sullen, as usual. It seemed Logan was trying to make her laugh by waving his arms around and pulling geek faces. Oh no wait, that was just Logan acting like his usual self.

Alec felt his entire body recoil with jealousy as Logan leaned forward to take Max's hand before whispering something in her ear. Holding his breath, he wishing he could tear his eyes away from the scene, his mind filling with the image of her smiling back in agreement of whatever disgusting thing he had just propositioned her with.

To make his aggravation worse, Alec had been feeling really lousy all morning. He'd had migraines before, but usually after a long night of hard drinking. That hadn't been the case for him last night. Passing a hand over his face, Alec tried to massage away the ache in his temples. Loganism. That's what it was, he thought with a wry chuckle. He'd been exposed to far too much of the guy these past few days, and it was starting to make him sick.

"Hey you." Match interrupted his thoughts by plonking her lunch tray on the table and sitting beside him.

Alec smiled, his introspection momentarily diverted. "Hey yourself."

Match grinned, bouncing on her seat with excitement. "I got an early Christmas present for ya. Just to cheer you up."

He returned her grin with a wide-eyed look of surprise. "Match! You didn't have to do that!"

"It's okay. I wanted to." She produced from her bag a bottle of Glenfiddich and a pair of shot glasses. "Far be it for me to encourage alcoholism, but sometimes it helps to drink until you can no longer feel the pain - or at least your legs."

She looked over at the table where Alec's eyes kept reverting. "This is perhaps one of those times."

He turned back to her and plastered on a wide grin, before picking up the bottle and holding it to his chest as one would a baby. "Know what Match? You're the sweetest person I've ever known."

Match smiled back at him, relieved to see her friend happy at last and not knowing him well enough to realise he wore a mask.

* * *

_You're the sweetest person I've ever known._

The words reverberated in Max's skull like the thunderous sound of an avalanche.

Overwhelmed by bitter jealousy, she felt the blood pumping in her ears as heat rose up to her face, decorating her skin pink. She tried to ignore Alec's words - to ignore Alec. But that one sentence played over and over in her mind like a hammer, driving her into the ground.

She pulled her eyes away from Alec and turned to Logan, who was oblivious to all but the sound of his own voice as he talked about his latest Eyes Only campaign.

Not caring about anything except retaliation, Max stood up and slowly raised her hands above her head in a languid stretch, waiting for all eyes to fall on her before sitting back down - on Logan's lap. Trying not to look in Alec's direction, she forced a smile as Logan hesitantly drew his arms around her, and then leaned in to whisper in his ear.

* * *

"Are you alright Alec?"

Alec forced a smile and began with his trademark reply, but changed his mind. Instead, he surprised Match by leaning in towards her and planting a soft kiss on her lips. Pulling back slightly, he cupped her face and leant in to kiss her again, allowing his lips to linger longer this time.

Match's smiled as he broke the kiss. "What was that for?"

He returned her smile, but met her inquisitive look with eyes that were sad and far away.

"Just... because."

Match's smile faded as she caught his glance towards to Max and realised for herself what his kiss was for.

* * *

Max felt her heart sink at the thought of what the longing in Logan's eyes meant. With every day that passed in his company, she wanted to shrink within herself and disappear. But she refused to show weakness, not after spending many years mastering the fine art of the Completely Expressionless Face to hide her emotions behind.

Therefore, she maintained her composure as she stood up from Logan's lap and stretched out a hand to him. She stayed calm as he took her hand and stood to his feet with a look on his face that made her want to tear her hand away and run from the room. Rather than run, she forced herself to lead him casually out of the room, maintaining her composure until she was no longer in sight of Alec.

Then she dropped Logan's hand as if it burnt her, and pushed him away as he tried to draw her to him again.

"Leave me alone Logan. I'm not your girlfriend." She held up her hands as he tried to reach for them again.

He looked at her in shock, realising she had only showed him affection to hurt Alec. Anguish accompanied this knowledge and it tore through him like poison.

"Well, neither are you Alec's by the look of things." Logan couldn't keep the bitterness from his voice, nor could he resist making a remark he knew would cut her as she had cut him.

Max fumed at the way in which he spoke the words - as if gloating over the fulfilment of a prophesy he had set down for their relationship from the day it began. The fact that her relationship with Alec had been a farce anyway, was of no consequence to her damaged pride right now.

"You shouldn't have come back to Terminal City, Logan. This isn't your place."

Max had spoken the words at last, but all of the iron determination had gone out of her voice. She meant the words with every ounce of her being, but she was simply too weary to put in the effort.

"Are you saying you want me to leave Max?" The words felt leaden on his lips. A realisation struck him with a wrench to his gut: after coming so far with Max - through all the obstacles that had risen before them - it was over. The retro-virus had built a barrier between them and the cure had come too late.

"Yes Logan! That's exactly what I'm saying!"

Relief flooded through Max as she spoke the words aloud at last. Once this man standing before her had meant so much - so much so that she would at times feel hollow and numb at just the thought of existing without him in her life. But since the siege had begun, she'd at last found a place in the world - amid her own kind. And to live as an ordinary now seemed like a foolish childhood fantasy. Her place was here, with these people who were like her - a breed that humanity would never truly understand, or trust. There was just no place for Logan Cale in her new life within Terminal City. And the thought no longer hurt. Not at all.

Logan stood helpless as he watched Max turn and walk away, wishing he could say something to make her come back. How could she expect him to leave? Where could he go now that he too was hunted? Everything he had, he'd given up for the transgenics in one way or another, and this toxic scrap of land was his home now. Whether they liked it or not.

* * *

Strangely enough, Alec and Match were having a very similar dilemma…

"Don't use me as your pawn Alec."

He opened his mouth to feign ignorance but stopped himself. She wasn't stupid, and deserved better than for him to treat her so. "I'm sorry Match. I'm just not feeling on top of the weather lately. I don't know what's wrong with me…"

He couldn't meet her eyes. The pounding headache had grown worse, but it was hardly an excuse for his actions. Instead he closed his mouth and rubbed a hand to his temple, irritability suddenly washing over him at having to explain anything.

"Look. I know you love her. And by the looks of it, she's hurting just as much as you are."

Match placed a fingertip over his mouth as he opened it to protest. "Don't make me get tough on you! A blind person can see she doesn't care about Logan anymore. Somewhere along the lines, you two got your wires crossed."

Alec's protests fell short, and he had to grudgingly agree. "So whadda you suggest?"

Matched rolled her eyes and thumped him on the arm, laughing. "You're asking relationship advice from someone who's never had one in her life?"

Shrugging, Alec forced the headache out of his mind as he slung an arm amicably around his friend's shoulders. "Yeah you're right. I should confront her and sort this bitch out. But I think I'll let her stew a while first. Meanwhile, we've gotta bottle of Scotch to drink."

* * *

Max wandered through the streets of Terminal City, longing for a high place to escape to where she could mull over her thoughts. But there was no rest for the wicked or the condemned within Terminal City. It seemed every nook and cranny harboured a transgenic seeking escape from the ordinary world.

On a better day, she might find peace, but not today. There was no place to hide when the voice of accusation screamed from inside her own mind. The wind blew through the Christmas decorations that hung from the odd street lamp, causing tin cans painted in red and green to rattle against each other like a haunting song.

The sound emphasised Max's loneliness, reminding her of the days as a young Manticore escapee when she had stood before shop windows during Christmas and stared in wonder at the beautiful displays before her. She couldn't understand why the coloured lights and sparkling tinsel had appeared almost overnight, but knew only that it made the people who passed by smile in some great secret she wasn't privy too.

Stepping out from an alleyway, she broke out of her thoughts to find herself on Alec's street. She looked around in surprise, realising she had lost herself in thought and found her way here by instinct. Maybe this was fate, perhaps it was time to forget the events of the past few days and confront Alec at last?

As she was about to approach Alec's apartment, he stepped from around the corner with Match by his side and the bottle of scotch between them. Max shrank back into the shadows as they reached his door and watched Alec place an affectionate hand on her back as they stepped inside.

_You're the sweetest person I've ever known._

Max tried to block the memory of those words out of her head but they rained down on her regardless. Why did she even care if Alec had some other girl? Did she really want him anyway? Sure, they'd grown pretty close to each other since Logan had slipped out of the picture, but that didn't mean they owned one another.

Clinging to these affirmations as if they were some kind of lifeline, Max turned back into an alley, feeling the sudden need to escape her fellow transgenics altogether.

* * *

"I'm beginning to find your bed rather comfortable you know Alec."

He looked over at his friend, nestled amid a pile of blankets and grinned as he leant back into a flattened old pillow. "Yeah. And my neck is finally getting used to the couch."

Match laughed at him and pulled a face, "Aaaw… Poor thing."

Alec turned longingly to his TV set across the room. "Which channel do you wanna watch?"

He laughed as Match's eyes widened in amazement and she exclaimed, "You have a functioning TV here?"

'Well, no. But a guy can pretend right?"

She looked at his serious face and burst into laughter. "You need to get out more!"

He raised an eyebrow in contemplation of the idea before replying, "Hey, if you've watched as much of the old boob tube as I have, all you gotta do is close your eyes and let it play back in your head. Trust me. It's a great way to learn about the world."  
Match looked down at the near empty bottle between them.

"Alec my dear, perhaps you need to have another drink."

They were doing well, or rather Alec was - considering she'd been pushing him to drink while she sat back and barely touching a drop herself. It was amazing how rapidly one transgenic could consume a bottle of spirits and still string complete sentences together. The thought that worried Match was the fact Alec had said nothing about Max since they'd stepped into his apartment. The whole reason why she planned to get him drunk in the first place was so he'd loosen up and spill the beans.

"So, how long have you known Max?"

His mind flickered back to the day he had entered Max's cell in Manticore and the astonishment he had felt when she kicked him across the room. Though he hadn't realised it at the time, in that instant she had claimed dominion over him - body and soul. Although, he'd by no way realised this at the time.

He knew it now though, and the thing that worried him at the back of his mind (right next to the headache which just wouldn't quit) was the knowledge that the one other time he'd ever felt such strong feelings for a girl, terrible things had happened. Even now, the agony and terror of re-indoctrine began to blacken his mind and suddenly Alec regretted the fact that he'd never allowed himself to deal with these pain-filled memories.

Match watched Alec's smile abruptly die as his mind turned to the one subject he'd been trying so hard to forget. She had known of his failed mission for Manticore and she knew he was reliving it now. Apprehension slid down her spine as she watched his eyes cloud over, knowing that he was drifting back into memories of past horrors. As his jaw tensed and his face winced with pain, she wondered if the ghosts of his mind would ever be laid to rest. She'd suffered her fair share of disappoints for Manticore; and knew the wrath of their superiors. And she knew also that if Alec didn't deal with these memories, they'd eventually find a way to deal to him.

"Alec?" Tenaciously, Match reached out and gripped his shoulder, shaking him slightly in the hope of stirring him back into reality. "Hey Alec, come back huh?"

Blinking away the horror's at last, Alec glanced at Match and quickly dropped his gaze to the hands that had become tightly clasped together in his lap. He could see pity and understanding awash in her eyes, and he didn't want either. He didn't want her silent permission to let go of his pain in her presence. Shrugging away her hand, he plastered on his usual happy-go-lucky smile and feigned a lax attitude once more.

"Let's not go down that conversational path huh? Why don't we talk about you?"

Match sighed in defeat and stood up. "Sure thing Alec. We'll talk about me. But I'm just gonna pop out for a minute okay? Our alcohol supply is running low and I have a small stash back at my place."

He nodded, and watched as she walked out the door. The apartment suddenly felt so unbearably empty once the door shut behind her. As the sudden silence descend upon Alec, he wondered if he'd ever felt so alone. Staring at the dead TV before him, he dolefully wondered if somewhere out there in the world, the tube was playing an interesting show tonight.

_ --- flashback --- >  
"So Max, if we're supposed to be together in the carnal sense of the word, I guess this means I should move into your place huh?"_

Max stared at him in stony silence as he tried to cajole her into a response by use of an elbow connecting playfully with her ribs. Finally, she grabbed his arm and twisted it sharply, fire igniting in her eyes as she turned about to face him.

"Don't think I'm gonna be your girlfriend just 'cause I'm your girlfriend!"

"Oh tut-tut-tut Max. Do you have any idea how badly you just contradicted yourself in that statement?" His words were like water on a grease fire and he grinned as the proverbial flames within her dark pupils rose higher.

"You're such a pain in the ass Alec!"

The cocky grin was replaced by a look of faux hurt and she released his arm in exasperation. But Alec refused to give up the last word, and added with a cheeky grin, "You know what? You're cute when your eyes light up like that. It kinda makes 'Max the Bitch' that much more tolerable."

Max held her glare for a long moment before smiling sweetly up at him. "Thanks Alec. Flattery gets you no-where."

He chuckled as if he begged to differ, then turned away to unpack a box filled with his few belongings. One day, the girl was gonna have to fess up…  
--- end flashback --- >

Alec shook his head to rouse himself from his thoughts. When was Match going to come back? His headache was worse, buzzing even - like a swarm of bees were making their way through his skull, pressing down upon his sinuses and tickling the back of his eyes with their beating wings. The sensation was making aggravating and he almost wanted to smack his skull to make it stop. Alec laughed without humour as he recalled his earlier excuse for the pain. Loganism. Maybe more scotch was in order. He opened the bottle beside him and took a long swig, then polished it off completely. Perhaps this would help chase the thoughts from his mind.

Minutes ticked by, the room was silent. Perhaps Match wasn't coming back? Alec struggled to think through the alcohol-induced haze. Had he done something to offend the girl - other than kiss her to make Max jealous?

Closing his eyes to ponder this great mystery, Alec unwittingly slipped into memory once more.

_ --- flashback --- >  
A warm hand stroking his forehead slowly roused Alec from his dreams, but the unusually gentle voice woke him up with a snap._

"You know, you're not so intolerable when you're sleeping."

He kept his eyes closed, intrigued by this revelation and understandably, wanting to hear more.

"So I guess I have to admit I don't hate you as much as I'd like to. Fact is, I'm kinda glad to have you around. Sometimes."

The hand that stroked his forehead now moved to brush back the untamed strands of hair from his face, pulling away as he flinched from shock, but returning again soon after.

"Of course, I'd never tell you this if you were awake."

He fought hard against the smile, feeling it tug at the corners of his mouth anyway. Her hand suddenly froze as she noticed the twitch, he could hear a sharp inhalation as she held her breath.

"You asshole!"

That did it, he was doomed now. The smile turned into a grin, a cocky grin at that. He couldn't help it, he didn't wear the expression - it wore him.

"How long have you been awake!"

He tried to ignore her, finding himself able to control his facial muscles at last, but of course it was too late now anyway. She shook him roughly, rolling him to his back and straddling his torso as she pummelled his chest. Hmm…This was a nice feeling, apart from the patter of fists…

"Answer me damn it!"

Finally he opened his eyes to meet her glare with a smile.

"So I'm not so intolerable huh? Is that only when I'm sleeping though? Come on, be honest, cause personally, I think…"

He stopped when he noticed her thoughtful, yet slightly enraged expression, and the fact she had stopped hitting him. It kinda scared him.

"What else?"

He stared at her in confusion, waiting for her to repeat the question and hopefully elaborate a little.

"What else did you hear?" She punctuated the words and her tone suggested that if he didn't say what she wanted to hear, he would most likely lose the ability to sit on his ass for a good week.

"Oh, everything after… Why Max? Had you been telling me Logan was the wrong guy for you, and you should've been with me all al ong?" He asked the question in jest, but nearly gagged in shock as he saw the blush spread across her face.

"You wish!" She leapt off him (somewhat reluctantly he thought) and walked to the door. "I just didn't want you to hear the things I had to say about… your ass."

He chuckled as she disappeared through the door, he didn't blame her for being a tad obsessed with his ass. Hell, he'd seen nuns give it appreciative glances. But he was intensely curious as to what his mysterious little X5 had really been talking about while he slept…  
--- end flashback --- >

In the back of his mind, Alec became aware of the mattress shifting as someone lay on the bed beside him. His mind still content within his dreams as the pain of his headache had lessened at last, he rolled towards the person and wrapped his arms around the body, smiling contently as he felt within the realm of half-sleep, arms return the embrace.

* * *

**December 18, 2021**  
Max sat on the edge of the kitchen bench, watching Original Cindy as she searched the cupboards for something that might resemble breakfast. In the few months since Joshua had taken flight to Terminal City, Max, Alec and Mole had begun to organise the place. They'd rigged up a supply system that to some extent, worked. Staple food, blankets, clothing and medical provisions were in irregular but satisfactory supply. In other areas, Mule had taken charge in the construction of an evacuation tunnel; the Oak Street X5's had converted an empty warehouse into a training yard (only light training - Max didn't want to see Manticore reinvented); and even headquarters had been refurnished with a high-tech computer system. But in the case of breakfast cereal… well that was a whole other issue.

Cindy looked across at her friend who was noticeably more sombre than usual. In fact, she'd barely spoken a word since her arrival, at least not about the important issue. And Cindy could guess who the issue involved.

"So who you gonna spend Christmas with Boo?" She sat down beside her friend and hit her straight up with the question Max had been trying to evade for days now.

"What do you mean? It's not as if I got a line up." Max shrugged, trying to pretend she didn't care.

"Sure you do boo, you know that. You got Logan, Alec…"

"Alec! Why'd I consider a fleeting minute in his company - let alone Christmas?" Suddenly flamed into life by the absurdity of such a suggestion, Max pulled her head back and shot her friend a filthy look.

Cindy sighed and rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Come on girl, ya know you don't mean that."

Max stared down at the ground, refusing to meet her friend's eyes.

"You gotta learn to cut the guy some slack!" Cindy took hold of Max's arm and turned her around to face her.

"You two've had a lotta shit go down and you've stuck it out together - he's stuck it out with you throughout, and that's more than I'd have expected of him once. Don't you think he's proven himself already? You can't tell me you're still draggin your boy through the dirt?"

"Yeah well, he's got a new flame now."

"And why is that Max?" Cindy knew she was risking potential limb loss by asking, but it had to be done. Someone had to make the girl consider such things as consequences.  
Max remained fastened in her cocoon of silence, not wanting to consider Cindy's words but finding herself forced to regardless. Her friend did have a point; she hadn't stopped using him as a kicking post since the day he walked into her life. But what else was she meant to do? Drop a life time of building walls around herself and go all soft? Unlikely.

"I can't help it OC, every time I'm around him, sparks fly…"

"So he fires you up huh?"

"Yeah…"

"Makes you feel alive?" OC smiled knowingly.

Max knew what her friend was hinting at, and greeted such suggestion with stony silence. She didn't want to be on this conversational track, certainly not after the events of the past few days. It brought back too many memories of the kiss that she didn't dare tell OC about. The girl would slap her one for throwing the chance away.

"Makes it feel like the good old days huh? Before everything turned all, 'confined to a toxic waste ground by the US Military' on you?"

"Yeah…" Max's voice drifted off as she thought back to the good old days of being on the run from every institution that had ever wanted to capture her and her kind, and use them as lab rats. Or worse. "Like those days."

"So he's good for you. That's a fact!" OC's enthusiasm snapped her to attention. "Now let's get back to my original point of conversation. Who are you gonna spend your Christmas with?"

Max turned to her, eye's bright with agitation. "What does it matter OC? It's not like the day has ever meant anything to me before? I've lived my whole life without celebrating anything. Why should I start fluffin' over some dead son of a non-existent god now?"

"Oh come on Boo! No one ever celebrates Christmas for that reason." Original Cindy rolled her eyes at her friend as if to say 'duh'. "It's all about the spirit of fun, of belonging, celebrating family… that's what we break out our Santa hats and bon bon's for!"

"Family. Interesting concept OC. You know, I believed in that once, but I don't have…"

"I don't wanna be hearin' that Boo. You know you got family. More so now than when you were with your unit in Manticore I bet."

A spark of enthusiasm almost lit Max's eyes. Perhaps it would be a good thing. Sometimes she was just a little sick of being tough, trying to not care. But what else could she do in a world where rock bottom was still not a deep enough a place for where ordinaries wanted her kind to go?

"And Alec needs you boo, you're his family. You're more than that. You know he loves -"

"No!" Max jumped to her feet and began to pace the room, her face contorting into an expression of anger, with a large helping of denial to boot.

"I know what you're gonna say and you can spare it for some one who cares. He only loves himself."

Her final words came out louder and more aggressive then she intended, therefore drowning out the sound of the door drawing open behind her.

"Hey Max, it's Alec…" OC's eye's had widened to the point where her eyebrows could quite possibly been mistaken as part of her hairline, but Max was oblivious.

"Exactly OC - it's Alec! You know, Mr. I Know Everything?"

"Uhh, no Max…"

"No, no that's the one OC! Don't you remember? Mr. I'll Sell My Soul For A Buck?"

"No Max…"

"Other wise known as Mr. I'm Always Alright Until I Mess Up And Need Max To Bail My Ass?" Without pausing for breath, Max's words grew more hurtful in her retaliation. "Do you really think I'd wanna care about someone like that? I've spent most the past year regretting the day he walked in to my life!"

"Max!" OC remembered the point of having legs at last and used them to spring to her feet and grab Max, swinging her around to face the open door, and the figure standing in the doorway.

"I _meant_ it's Alec!"

Max's jaw dropped open, and she stood frozen in shock of her own self.

Opposite her, Alec stood slouched against the wall as if her words had driven him backwards, the wide eyes that met her own were filled with the pain of realising no matter what he did, she'd never see him as anyone other than the selfish screw up she always accused him to be.

No one in the room spoke, only Cindy had retained the ability to draw breath as for a full minute, shock wound it's way through each individual's bloodstream like poison.

"Oh god." At last Max found her cursed voice and stepped forward towards Alec. "I didn't mean…"

As her hands reached out to him, he flinched and broke his gaze, melding even further into the wall. He ran a hand over his head, clutching his skull as if in pain. At last he looked up to meet her eyes once more, but his face wore a black look worse than raging anger, worse even that absolute hate. His glare was empty, devoid of any emotion. Like a soldier. Like Manticore.

Wordlessly, he turned and strode out of the room, leaving Max and Original Cindy staring in opened mouthed shock in his wake.

"You know what boo?" Max turned back to OC with horror, but her friend faced her with a look she had only ever seen reserved for the likes of tactless men.

"Maybe you gotta ask yourself if you even deserve him." 


	4. December 19 2021 to December 20 2021

**Important Author's Note:**I've re-edited previous chapters a little to try and clarifythat what happens to Alec is not of his free will, nor is it caused by Max's treatment of him - we all know he's not that weak. ;) The others won't realise this, but it's just bad-timing for the boy that he is suffering from a psychosis that will be explained further in the sequel to this story, _Locura_. (I didn't want to have to reveal that, but the confusion by some at the forums who understandably couldn't figure his extreme out of characterness had to be dealt with. Just keep in mind his headaches - they are related to what is happening.)

* * *

**Repercussions - Chapter Four**

When we lose one we love, our bitterest tears are called forth  
by the memory of hours when we loved not enough. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------

**DECEMBER 19, 2021**

Match watched Alec from across the room and felt a chill pass through her. He was running through a series of hand-to-hand combat manoeuvres with a group of X6's and his tone, posture and mannerisms reminded her a little too much of the drill sergeants back at Manticore. He expression lacked emotion, his voice was brusque and cold as he reprimanded a soldier for being unable to keep up with the rest of class, and his skin was pale and drawn. Strung out looking. Unwell.

Match couldn't understand the sudden transformation. When he left his apartment, Alec had been so enthusiastic about confronting Max at last, and eager to extend the olive branch. So how did things go so wrong?

She watched her friend across the room as he stood over a young soldier and ordered him to perform press-ups before his group. Three hundred of them. This wasn't Alec. This was the embodiment of pure, unadulterated Manticore. Even 494 had possessed more soul.

Once again she asked herself, how did things go so wrong?

_--- flashback ---_

There was no awkwardness between them when they awoke tangled within each other's arms. It was as if this was the natural procession of things - or would be, if Alec wasn't so obviously in love with Max.

"Sweet dreams?" Match pulled away from Alec to watch his face. His smile was bittersweet.

"Well, I dreamt about the past, so it was kinda sweet and sour."

She heard a rumble from his stomach and laughed as he purred, "Mmmm.. Starving... I could go some sweet and sour pork right now…"

Springing out of bed as she was about to nestle her head back down, Alec pulled Match to her feet and exclaimed, "Hey, I'll go on a supply run today and see if I can find us something to eat other than rice, and Joshua's infamous mac 'n' cheese. Variety is after all, the spice of life, and both life and our menu are lacking in spice and variety lately."

Without waiting for her reply, he searched the floor for his clothes, eventually realising they were in the dresser beside his bed. Scratching his head in puzzlement, he turned back to Match.

"Hey... Did you tidy my room?"

She followed his eyes around the unusually clean floor. "Couldn't sleep. Besides, didn't they teach you to look after your belongings in Manticore?"

Alec shrugged and winked. "Yeah well, I like to go against the grain."

--- end flashback ---

Aware of Max's presence by the sudden temperature drop in the room, Match snapped out of her thoughts and watched her as she stood in the doorway and gaped at the sight of Alec. She knew it was irrational, but she wanted to blame her for this. If she hadn't loaded Alec with so much guilt over who he was and who he had once been, maybe this wouldn't have happened. She wanted to hate the girl for criticising him so much. But most of all, she wanted to hate her for claiming Alec's heart when there were others out there who would treat it far kinder. Right now, she could barely maintain her rage. Especially when she thought of Alec's blind optimism regarding his little X5.

_--- flashback ---_

"Max is a difficult girl to get to know." Alec laughed at his own understatement. "It took months of trying to prove myself to her, before she stopped lamenting the day she kept my head from exploding."

Match raised her eyebrows in disbelief, unable to understand why he persevered for so long. "Didn't her relationship with Logan discourage you just a little?"

The corner of Alec's mouth turned up and his eyebrows furrowed together as he considered the question.

"Hey, I never said I loved her on first sight, I just wanted her to realise I wasn't the big bad wolf. Max and Logan were an old married couple - always rubbing against each other like flint and stone, but without enough spark to ignite the wood."

He grinned at his analogy before continuing. "Sometimes it seemed like she wanted to be free of him, but didn't know how. He was the family that'd come to replace her lost siblings. How do ya say goodbye to that?"

Having developed a strong 'family' mentality herself in Manticore, Match could understand. She just wondered if Max would ever be able to let go of Logan for good.

As if reading her mind, Alec added, "Part of her will always love Logan, part of her will never let go. But since being in Terminal City amid her own kind, she's beginning to accept herself at last - in a way she never could with Logan. And it's a part of her that he'll never be able to understand, no matter how much he tries."

Alec stood up from the couch and walked towards the door. Pausing as he reached for the handle, he turned back to look at Match with a smile. "And you know what? Since Max has realised this - she's finally begun to accept me."

"I hope so Alec."

Match gave him a small smile as he walked out the door, but her heart wasn't in it. For his sake, she hoped he was right. But why did she have such a bad feeling?

--- end flashback ---

Feeling the need to redeem her friend for whatever ill deed he had or had not done in Max's eyes, Match strode towards the petite X5, allowing herself to feed off the fires of anger in anticipation of their confrontation.

* * *

494 shifted his gaze from the young soldiers before him and briskly wiped a hand across his forehead. His skin felt slightly clammy, and the headache had turned to a consistent and jarring throb. He struggled to compartmentalise the pain - to block it out. X5s did not get sick. He had to concentrate on the task at hand; During the past several months, the soldiers had become sloppy in their training. It was time to put things back in order. It was their duty to themselves if not to each other.

A movement across the warehouse caught 494's eye and for a brief moment he watched 479 approach 452. Something reached out at him from the edge of his awareness, a feeling that he should…

494 frowned, unable to finish the thought. The pain in his head tripled at the effort and for a brief moment he swayed on his feet. Struggling to force away the pain, he returned his attention to the double row of soldiers who stood before him in perfect formation. The ache lessened, and he continued his lecture on the importance of knowing your enemy. 479 and 452 forgotten.

* * *

From her peripheral vision, Max noticed a person come to stand beside her with a head of flaming red hair. She felt her body involuntarily stiffen and she drew herself taller.

"What the hell did you say to him Max?"

Match's voice seethed with rage as she fought to contain her emotions.

Max had almost expected a confrontation from Alec's girlfriend at some point. She'd noticed the way Alec was acting across the room, but couldn't see how it could be her fault. The girl was obviously just looking for an argument, and Max had no intention of biting the bait.

"I've got ten years of training on you, so don't play games!" Match grabbed Max and swung her round. "Now tell me. What. Did. You. Say."

Flinging Max backwards, Match felt her fury grow at the sight of the expressionless face before her.

"Why should he care what I have to say anyway? He's got you now!" Max hissed her reply through clenched teeth, trying to keep her voice down so as not to draw attention.

"Alec and I are just friends. He's too blinded by you to even see anyone else." Match's efforts hold back her fists were growing dim, how oblivious was this girl?

"If that's so true, why have you been shoving your ass in his face like a cat in heat?"

"I think your perception's somewhat distorted by your blind jealousy. I won't even try explaining the definition of _friendship_. You're obviously incapable of understanding."

Their voices were raising higher now, as they argued in oblivion to those in the hall who were turning their attention away from the current tasks, and to the conflict unfolding between the two girls.

* * *

The X6's were ignoring him. 494 couldn't believe it. Had they spent so much time out of Manticore, that they'd forgotten the consequences of such ignorance?

He followed the direction of their stares. The two X5 females he had observed earlier, 479 and 452, were arguing openly now.

Growing impatient by the scene before him, 494 strode towards the two girls. They'd interrupted his training enough.

* * *

Max turned towards Alec as he approached, but as she opened her mouth to speak her words promptly died in her throat. Alec looked unwell, feverish even. But what struck her most of all was the hazel eyes which radiated a detachment so chilling, it caused an involuntary shudder to run down her spine. In that instant, she couldn't help but compare him to the embodiment of his twin, Ben.

Stepping forward, her eyes flickering cautiously between Match and the man who had come to a half before her, Max posed the question she figured all in the room were wondering. "Alec, what the hell's wrong with you? You look like you woke up on the wrong side of a cliff ledge!"

Glancing at her without a trace of emotion, Alec turned to fix Match with the same void stare. "You two are going to be spending some time in isolation for this little stunt."

Match turned towards Max with eyes pleading for her to do something - say something. Snap him out of this madness.

"What the hell are you on about?" Max all but laughed aloud, thinking his behavious some kind of joke. "This isn't you! This isn't even 494! Alec, what's happening to you?"

Alec's hand snaked out and grabbed her by the throat. Ignoring the other girl who had run forward to try and break the deadly hold, his face remained unmoving as he slowly squeezed Max's windpipe.

Somewhere in his mind, he heard commotion, but he didn't register where it was coming from or why. Nor did he care. The pain in his head was nearly blinding him now, crushing down upon him until he was unaware that he squeezed the girl's throat all the harder, just in effort to hold in a scream.

And then suddenly Alec's mind exploded in pain so sharp and clear, his entire world faded into black. The darkness took away everything, and he knew nothing else.

* * *

**December 20, 2021**

"Is he going to wake up?"

All eyes turned to Match at OC's question.

She looked towards Max who stared at her with such concern in her eyes, she couldn't help but feel empathy for the girl.

"I don't know. Without the right medical equipment, I can't be sure how much damage has been done."

He'd been out cold all night and was yet to so much as twitch a muscle. The rise and fall of his chest, and steady pulse were the only indications he was even alive.

"But his heartbeat is strong. I guess the boy just needs a break from it all."

"But he did break. And it's all my fault. I should've noticed something was wrong" Max softly whispered the words as she stroked his forehead, willing him to open his eyes and be Alec again.

"No no, it's mine… my fault. I didn't mean to hit him so hard! I'm sorry!" Joshua paused in his dog-like whimpers to utter the apology before sinking his chin deep towards his chest in sorrow once more.

"Hey doggy-dog, it's okay" OC moved to draw him into a hug, holding in the tears herself as she absorbed her transhuman friend's grief. "You saved Max's life."  
He didn't answer her, and OC looked over his shoulder at Max, her eyebrows raised in concern.

* * *

Numbly, Max looked down at Alec laid out so peacefully on Joshua's mattress. He appeared so content, she could almost convince herself the past few days had never happened. If only it weren't for the huge swollen bruise on the side of his head and the growing panic as the hours stretched on and on and he still wouldn't awaken.

She looked to Match who sat on his other side and gave her a small smile. After the briefest hesitation, the girl returned the smile and reached forward to pick up one of Alec's limp hands, her face turning expressionless as she tried to shut out her concern.

Max stood and walked over to Joshua, placing a hand on his shoulder and causing him to look up at her. He released OC and stepped back, hanging his head in shame. "I'm sorry…"

Feeling herself crack beneath Joshua's guilt - guilt that was hers to bear, not his, Max wrapped her arms around him and soothed back his long unruly mane of hair as he began to silently sob into her shoulder. The poor boy loved Alec and truly believed he had killed him. For hours now, no one had been able to convince him otherwise. Max gave up on words, she realised by now that words only got her into trouble. Instead, she held him and hoped that by doing so, she could sooth away his pain - and her own.

Joshua's whimpering finally began to subside and she closed her eyes against his shoulder, allowing herself to fall into her own grief. Facing away from the others, Max felt tears slip down her face as the fear of Alec's condition closed in on her.  
How could she allow things to escalate to this? While she'd been busy trying to make him jealous and indulging in her own jealousy over his friendship with Match, she'd failed to realise something else was bothering him. Something seriously wrong.

Max felt Joshua's arms tighten around her, and reminded herself she was meant to be comforting him, not vice versa. She pulled away and forced a smile. She wanted nothing more then to return to Alec's side, but she needed to draw her friend out of his pain, she couldn't bear to see him suffer any longer.

"Hey Josh, how bout you show me some of your latest artwork huh?"

Joshua smiled back uncertainly, his eyes still haunted much the way they had been after Annie's death.

"It's not your fault. Honestly. And Alec will be bouncing to his feet in no time!"

Joshua thought of the sculpture he had been designing for his two favourite X5's for the past week now. Looking towards Alec's still form once more, he hesitated a moment, unsure of what to do.

"Okay, well…"

Max pushed a bit further, seeing him slowly begin to give in. "Come on. Whatcha got for me?"

" I'll show you."

Joshua led her out of the room and into his 'studio' overlooking Terminal City. He turned to his friend and ushered her over to the table where a small sculpture was perched in the middle of it. It was certainly something. Max just wasn't sure what.

"It's um… it's great Joshua."

He grinned like a proud child, "Do you know what it is?"

Max sighed with a smile. "I have no idea."

His grin widened as he continued to wait expectantly. She took a closer look. It was like a twisting mass of… wax. Colours melded together before drifting apart, and she found that if she stared hard enough, she could begin to recognise a shape - a pattern - a thought process. Initially, the sculpture seemed as if it were some kind of joke, but the closer she looked the more she realised it wasn't a joke, but in fact a complex riddle. A contradiction of itself. The twisted object had a lonely feeling to it, as if it were some how incomplete. Max frowned a little more, realising there was much more to Joshua's art then would meet the eye, but just as she thought she understood what lay before her; the feeling shifted. And realisation was lost once more.

Curious now by this illusion, Max stepped even closer, turning her head at different angles, trying to catch a glimpse of it's meaning once again. Sighing finally in impatience and defeat, she stepped back and shook her head. And then it came to her.

"Is it Alec?"

"Bingo!" Joshua jumped on the spot and laughed with unadulterated delight. "And now - this."

He took hold of her shoulders and led her to another sculpture similar to the last. Max crinkled her brow in thought. Once she recovered from the apparently random crevices and smears, the wax began to weave a tale within its twists and turns. It evoked within her feelings she longed to run from, but could never escape. Anger and fear, hostility and loneliness, all churned within her.

"Oh god. It's me…"

Joshua nodded and then placed the two sculptures together on the table, side by side. Max didn't understand until he inched them closer to each other until they met. And then she realised the artistic skill of his creations. When placed together, these two seemingly erratic halves fitted exactly, making the perfect whole.

"See Max. Apart equals alone. Sad. Incomplete. But together equals happy and complete. Understand? Max and Alec have to be together."

Max nodded slowly, almost in disbelief. "But I ju- "

"Hey."

A voice interrupted her reply from the doorway. She turned sharply to find OC leaning against the frame with a broad smile on her face.

"Your boy's woken up." 


	5. December 21 2021 to December 22 2021

**Repercussions Chapter Five**

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

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**December 21, 2021**

In the early hours of the morning, long before the light of dawn began to creep across the skyline, Max fell into an exhausted sleep beside Alec. Her body didn't usually require sleep, but the mental and emotional stress of recent days had finally taken its toll on her, and she gratefully surrendered to the lure of a dreamless rest. And when the light of the winter sun reached in to touch their placid faces with delicate warmth, Max and Alec still slept on.

Original Cindy looked across the room to where the X5's lay on Joshua's mattress, concern marring her features. Max had been when Alec lost consciousness so soon after regaining it. She had never seen her friend in such a state.

During the few brief minutes in which he had pulled himself out from the darkness, Alec had been unaware of his surroundings. Max reached his side and held his hand, but he had looked at her in confusion, as if she were a stranger. Nothing anyone could say would break her wordless silence when his eyes closed once more.

Original Cindy tried to maintain positive thoughts.

Once they awoke, everything would be back to normal - as far as normal goes. After all, Christmas was only a few days away and her two X5's had an appointment with the Mistletoe Fairy to keep. Things just had to come correct.

"Here, eat this."

Cindy looked up at Joshua, who had been asked by Match to rustle up one of his infamous macaroni dishes. It kept his mind off the situation to some extent although by the looks of the burnt saucepan scrapings mixed in with the meal…

"Thanks doggy-dog."

He took a seat beside her and OC tried not to think the words death watch as they ate in silence. Instead she smiled at the wisecracks Alec would surely hit them with once he woke to find Max beside him.

"Josh, why did he go all 'Manticore' yesterday?" OC placed the empty place beside her at last and turned to her friend. "I know Max said some harsh words, but it's not like they aint argued before?"

The dog-man knew his tricks and treats friend and knew there was a darkness within him - within all of Manticore's creations. It would always be there, like the magma, just waiting for the opportunity to explode to the surface.

Except in the case of the transgenics, this molten lava was called Manticore.

"You remember my dinner party? Alec was in the basement playing father's piano?" Joshua twiddled the fork between his fingers, half-wishing he didn't know the inside of people so well. Well enough to sometimes feel their pain as if it were his own.

"Yeah. Can't forget that."

"Manticore made us to be predators. We can't run from it, we can't escape it. There's a killer inside all of us - it's in our genes."

Joshua thought of the way Alec had looked when he was strangling the life out of Max. The X5 hadn't known who she was. It was as if he had snapped into something beyond even Manticore's expectations.

"You see Max and Alec living their life in the outside world the way everyone else does. Laughing, hanging out... You see them as normal people." He smiled sadly as he ran his hands over his face. "But they're not normal. Alec has been a Manticore soldier for twenty years. It'll always be in him. Just like the predator."

Cindy wore a thoughtful frown as she looked again to Max and Alec where they lay in sleep, looking for all the world like innocent youths. Chameleons.

"Well, they're still family to me Boo. Be they trained killers or not. And ya know you my family too. " She put her arm around Joshua's broad shoulders and rested her head against him.

"And whether he's Alec or 494 when he wakes up, we'll figure this bitch out."

* * *

Max wasn't sure what woke her. Maybe it was the voices of Joshua and OC on the fringe of conscious, or maybe it was the smell of food that roused her body at last. With her head resting on Alec's chest, she snuggled closer, pretending for a moment that today was the 25th and soon Terminal City would be celebrating it's first Christmas. 

She felt Alec shift beneath her and sat up, her pulse suddenly pounding .

"Alec?"

He rolled his head to one side and frowned slightly, as if trying to shake of the remnants of a dream. Max sat unmoving, unsure who would be looking at her once he opened his eyes.

"Alec, wake up." She gave him a gentle nudge and his eyes flew open to stare at the ceiling before drifting across the room to rest upon her.

"What time is it?"

A hesitant smile crossed Max's lips, she looked over at Joshua and OC who had stopped their conversation to sit in anxious wait.

"Well, judging from the empty plates over there, I'd say we just missed lunch."

Alec didn't return her smile, but instead pulled himself into a sitting position and looked around the room. Finally his eyes came back to Max, and the heavy bruising around her throat. He winced slightly and Max wasn't sure if it was due to the sight of her injury, or because of the large bruise that decorated his own head.

"So, mind telling me who you are today?" Max knew it seemed an odd question, but she had to ask it. She still wasn't sure and she couldn't bear the wait for enlightenment.

He raised an eyebrow quizically. "Alec. ...Ya named me, remember?" And then, as if unsure now as to which alternative-reality he'd woken into, he asked, "Wait, don't tell me you're another of Max's clones?"

"In your dreams." Max broke into a smile, sure now that Alec had truly returned to them. "What say we see if they left us anything to eat?"

Alec nodded and began to rise from the bed before grasping his head as blackness closed in on him, and returning to the mattress once more.

"Are you okay?" Max knelt at his side and gently touched his face, but he flinched and pulled his head away. "OC, can you get Match?"

"Already doing it boo." Cindy was half way across the floor to the next room where Match had gone to rest, having attending to both Alec and Max for the past 24 hours.

"How do you feel?" Max didn't know what to do. She tried to reach out to him again but he gave her a warning look and she folded her hands nervously across her chest.

"Well, I feel like something the cat brought in and then brought back up. Put it that way." Alec closed his eyes for a moment and then stood up again. This time, the blackness stayed away.

"I'm sorry Alec, I -"

"Hey you're back in the land of the living at last!"

Alec turned to the new voice as Match walked briskly across the room and came to stand before him. "Still feel a bit foggy huh?"

Slowly, he nodded his head. "That's an understatement.What the hell happened?"

"You don't remember?" Match and Max exchanged glances, unsure where to begin - and how much to reveal. Joshua saved them by stepping forward. "Sorry buddy, I uh... it was an accident."

"What, you knocked me out?" Alec looked incredulous. "What with? A tire iron?"

"No uh, my fist."

"You had a fair bit to drink." Max quickly intercepted. "Don't ya remember? Joshua was trying to uh... help you sleep. Poor boy didn't realise his own strength."

Alec blanched as he pressed tentantively against the bruise. "No shit."

Original Cindy flashed Max a smile and returned her attention to Alec. "Think you two can sort ya shit out now without anyone havin' to cuff you together?"

"There's nothin' to sort out." Alec glanced at Max and returned her smile with a nonchalant look and a shrug. "Far as I know, it's business as usual."

Max's smile fell as he turned away and wandered to Joshua's kitchen. Once out of hearing, she turned to Cindy and frowned. "S'pose I asked for that huh?"

OC shook her head. "He just needs time."

After he'd eaten, Joshua tried to capture Alec's interest in the decorations he'd been making for the Christmas party. The X5 smiled and nodded as he looked over Paper Mache angels painted with swirls of light and wreaths made of wire and decorated with coloured paper, but Max couldn't help but wonder if he would have preferred to inspect the bright sheen of well polished combat boots, than the light-hearted craftsmanship of Terminal City's artist in residence. And all too soon he made an excuse to leave and disappeared into the fading light of day.

Max tried to follow him but it seemed he had vanished with a puff of smoke as soon as he passed through the door. Returning to the room alone, she tried to push down the niggling doubts. "Maybe we should've told him the truth? Maybe he's not out of the woods yet?"

The occupants of the room were silent for a moment, each wrestling with their own guilt on not being straight up with Alec. Original Cindy stepped foward and slung an arm around her friend's shoulders. "He'll be fine Boo. The boy just needs a bit of time to himself."

**December 22, 2021**

Alec sat on the floor in the middle of his old apartment in Seattle's Sector Four, and stared into the thin air before him. For months he had maintained the rent payments to keep this place ready for the day when it was finally safe to return. But he now doubted such a day would ever come. And even if it did, he realised now that he didn't belong an an ordinary's world.

Transgenics would never be accepted among the humans. At best they'd find themselves confined to some kind of reservation and kept under control - to ensure they didn't cause harm to, or _contaminate_ the human race.

As graceful as a cat, Alec rose to his feet and wandered into the bedroom. He'd remained awake all night, his mind deep in thought; churning over all the options life held before him. And all the options he'd forever be denied.

They say what you don't know, can't hurt you. When Alec had been in Manticore, he'd never found reason to questioned his existence. For the first nineteen years he was a dutiful, obedient soldier. A robot. A clone. Always following orders, never caring for anything except fulfilling the mission and setting an example to those around him.

_--- flashback --- >  
"Okay grunts, I'd like you to look closely here at X5-494. Does he look all that different from you?" _

"No Sir!" Twenty five voices answered their Sergent in unison.

"Does he seem to have X-ray vision, the ability to fly, or a pair of magical ruby red slippers on his feet?"

"No Sir!" Indeed, he appeared to have none of these things.

"But yet, he is better than you. Can anyone tell me why?"

"No Sir!" No one would have dared to even attempt an explanation.

"Well, how about I tell you?"

The group of soldiers stood in silence, waiting for the Sergent to continue.

"X5-494 is a better soldier than you because every time he competes the task set before him, he beats his own record. He follows orders without hesitation and without conscience. If I were to tell him to bring me the heads of twelve Catholic orphans, he would do so."

Pacing before the soldiers, the Sergent studied each face before him, looking for the slightest twitch of defiance in his men.

"Now, I know each one of you would carry out the very same task. But the difference is this: you would hesitate before pulling the trigger. You would find within yourselves, a quiet voice of doubt. You would wonder if perhaps, this was wrong."

A soldier in the front row twitched and the Sergent halted before him, his face so close he could see the pores in his skin. He stared straight into the soldiers eyes although his words were directed at everyone as he raised his voice.

"You do not allow yourselves to doubt your orders! You do not wonder, if perhaps this is wrong! You are soldiers! You do not have minds of your own! You are not human - you are machines! You will never belong in the world among the ordinary every day people of America!"

Stepping back, the Sergent turned to 494, who stood facing the group, his eyes empty, his face blank. This man was everything Manticore had hoped to achieve. The perfect soldier.  
--- end flashback --- >

It was only during the Berrisford Mission that 494 had begun to wonder about his place in the world, and why his life was so different from everyone else's. And so wrong. The close relationship he had witnessed between Rachel and her father had planted that seed of doubt into his head. Their loving interaction made him see the grand faults that existed in his own upbringing, and caused him to experience emotions he had never before felt. Inside his mind, 494 began to question his superiors.

He began to crack the mould he had been cast in.

With his new found human emotions battling within him, he failed a mission at last. But as much as Manticore punished him, they could never put their humpty dumpty back together again. The cracks of conscience were irreversable. And although they made him forget about the Berrisfords, a part of him deep inside always knew that one day, he would break away.

But where was his niche? He had tried for so long to fit in with the ordinary world. To forget Manticore. But his life revolved around Max - his connection to Manticore. His friends were Max's friends, his job - Max's job. Max's life became his own. His name was given to him by her. He had escaped the rules and regulations of Manticore, to find himself following those of the rebel X5. It seemed as if he'd never truly escape his prison. If anything, what with coming to Terminal City and training kids to be soldiers, he seemed intent to rebuild it.

Who was he?

* * *

Max entered head quarters to find Joshua, Dix and Original Cindy standing around the table, indulging in light-hearted conversation. They had been putting up yet more decorations and there was more festive spirit in the room than Times Square on Christmas Eve. 

She looked around the room, hoping to see Alec. He was no where in sight. Unfortunately, Logan was. He stood in a corner, deep in conversation with Match who looked as if she'd rather be moon-walking with Michael Jackson's corpse.

Upon seeing Max, the red-haired X5 politely escaped the cyber-journalist and approached her.

"Hey Max, who's Bessie?"

"Bessie?" Max frowned. "That's Logan's car. Why?"

"Hmm. That would explain it then." She grinned. "He named his car Bessie? The guy's got some issues with the female gender I'd say."

Seeing the brunette was still waiting for an explanation, she stopped laughing and filled her in. "He wanted the gate opened so he could bring Bessie in."

Max's expression changed to one of surprise. "Did he say why?"

"Well, no. I figured Bessie was an incredibly large lady friend who couldn't fit through a gap in the fence."

Max laughed and wished with futility that this could have been the case. Then she thought of why he'd be bringing his vehicle in, and groaned. "I told him to _leave_ Terminal City - not bring all his belongings and join the club!"

Match veiled her humour and attempted a sympathetic smile, then moved on towards the exit as Max walked over to Joshua and Dix.

"Hey kids, how's the decorating goi - , wow Josh, that's pretty cool…" Max picked up a large object made of layers and layers of wire, crisscrossed and interwoven into the shape of a star. "What's it for?"

"It's the star which led the wise men to the baby Jesus when..." OC stopped at the transgenics questioning looks.

"Huh?" Max looked back down at the star, as if it could explain what her friend was talking about.

"No Cindy." Joshua's expression turned serious as he pointed up at the ceiling high above them. "It's a star, yes. But it's also a signal light. Leading the transgenics to safety. This is where they have to come to. Our sanctuary - our home."

Cindy, Dix and Max stared at Joshua, mouth agape at the beauty of the statement. With his obscure and insightful talent for art, he was bring Christmas to them in a way that was undeniably unique, and much more meaningful then the mere giving and receiving of presents.

"That's really profound Joshua." Logan walked over to the small group and peered around Max at the object of their discussion. "But that's not what the star is supposed to represent."

"Has anyone seen Alec today?" Max decided to ignore Logan's remark and bring the topic of conversation to the more pressing issue.

Everyone in the room shook their heads. No one had seen him since he left Joshua's the previous day. Max felt dispair choke her in much the same way Alec's hand had a few days earlier.

"Nope. No Alec." Joshua paused the study of his newest creation to ponder upon the disappearance of his friend. He looked directly at Max. "He's confused. Hurt."

Max looked away, not wanting to read what she could see in her friend's eyes. Joshua was concerned for his friend, and she knew he was about to say something she really didn't want to hear.

Logan cleared his throat. "What's he confused about Joshua?"

The transhuman growled low in his throat, causing Logan to take a step back.

"Himself." He waved his hands in the air, and then his eyes fell upon the star. "Alec is lost. He can't remember how to find his way back from the darkness."

* * *

Alec lay on the bed, unable to sleep as his mind churned over and over his thoughts. 

He wondered if he should leave Seattle and start life again. Away from Max, away from anyone who had ever known him as a transgenic. He just wanted to find a place where he would be accepted. A place he could call home.

But the idea of leaving Max and his friends tore him apart. He didn't know what to do. He couldn't stay here. This wasn't his home anymore. It never really had been. But where could he go?

* * *

As Max sped through the streets of Terminal City, she knew she would never find him here. Turning the motorbike round, Max drove towards one of the gates that opened onto an unpatrolled sidestreet and signalled for the transgenics guarding it to let her pass. She had a really bad feeling inside her, and it was growing worse by the minute. 

She went to Crash. He wasn't there. Not bothering to check Jam Pony, Max headed to the Space Needle. He wasn't there either. After hunting high and low through Joshua's old house, she was at her wits end. What if he had left Seattle? What if he had been captured by White? Running to the bike, a thought occurred to her. It was now so obvious. He'd be back at his old place.

She pulled up outside his apartment and ran up the stairs until she reached his floor. The door stood wide open and she entered, her eyes sweeping the room as her senses picked up on his presence. Hope flared within her as she walked to his room. And promptly died as she found the room to be as empty as the rest of the places she had searched.

No longer knowing what else to do, Max sank to the floor, too shocked by his complete and utter absence to move. She stared down at her hands as a tear rolled down her face. She was too late. He had left. And by the way he had been acting these past few days - the way they had both been acting, he wasn't coming back. But she'd sit here and wait. Just in case he returned.

Sometime later, Max became aware of the growing darkness surrounding her.

She stood slowly, turned to the door and began to approach it. She couldn't keep telling herself he was going to return. He would have done so already.

* * *

Moments after Max drove away on her bike, Alec turned the corner and entered the building she had just departed from. Precariously balancing a box of beers on his knee as he fumbled to unlock the door he thought he'd left opened, Alec stepped into the room and immediately picked up on the scent of someone else. 

Max.

She had been here. Why? Why would she bother to come looking for him? Something ignited inside him; a small flicker of light battled against the darkness and hopelessness within him. No one was here. Max had been, but now she had gone. Suddenly the beer had lost its appeal. It was pointless hanging around any longer.

* * *

As soon as Max walked down the corridor of her apartment building and towards her door, she knew something had changed. There was an odour of fresh pine in the air. She halted, the smell brought up an instant recollection of so many things she had no wish to remember. The night of the escape - running through the snow laden forest. And most of all, the day she'd thwarted Ben from murdering Father Destry - when she'd sat amid freshly crushed pine needles and forced herself to snap his neck. She hesitated outside the door, unsure if she wanted to step through. 

At last, she made up her mind and opened the door. As soon as her eyes fell upon the Christmas tree in the center of the room, she wished she could change her mind and walk back out.

Logan was putting the finishing touches on a large pine tree. It was the most perfectly formed tree she had ever seen. Not a branch was in the wrong place, the decorations were colour co-ordinated to perfection and looked as if they had cost him a whole continent of starving children to buy.

Max felt as if she were in a living nightmare.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Recovering from her initial shock, Max strode over to the man and snatched from his hand the exquisite angel he had been about to place on the top of tree. He turned to her in shock as he noted the anger blazing in her eyes.

"Well, I brought you a tree. To replace that bit of kindling you had in here before." Logan reached out for the angel but she stepped back with a warning in her eyes.

"Where is my _kindling_ now?"

Logan looked away in silence, his eyes lingering on the open window that looked into a narrow alley. Running to the window, Max leant out and saw the broken remains of the tree Alec had brought home for her. Scattered around it were the decorations Joshua's art class had put their hearts into.

Whirling around, she blurred to Logan and pushed him into the pine, sending them both crashing to the floor.

"Why? Why did you do it Logan? What gave you the right to come in here and destroy…" Her voice began to crack and she wrenched him to his feet. "Get out!"

He stood before her, puzzled at her over-reaction. Why would she rather have the branch?

"Look Max, I don't understand why you're so upset but -"

No, you don't understand! You never will! And if you don't get out now, I'm probably gonna regret what I'll do to you once the elation of doing it wears off!"

Logan paused to take in Max's flushed face, and the look of absolute seething rage written upon it, and stepped forward as he felt himself return her anger.

"Fine Max. I'll leave. You know, I've had it up to here with trying to second-guess you just because you're too damn scared to let open up of your own accord. This was my last-ditch effort to share some happiness with you. I won't bother wasting my time again."

Knocking into her shoulder as he passed, Logan slammed the door behind him, leaving silence in his wake.

Alone, Max spied an object on the ground and leant down to pick it up. It was the angel Alec had made for the top of the tree. The angel with a likeness to her face painted on it.

Holding the angel to her chest, Max sank to the ground and began to sob as the pain of loss - in more ways than one - came crashing in on her. Logan was right in one thing; she _was_ too damn scared to let herself open up, and because of it, she'd lost Alec. And she hadn't even realised how much his loss would break her, until it was too late.

Arms wrapped around her and she looked up, startled, half thinking Logan had returned.

Instead, she found herself staring into a pair of wide hazel eyes set in a concerned face.

"Alec?"

He nodded. "Yeah Maxie. It's me."

Gently wiping the tears from her eyes with his thumbs, Alec leant forward and kissed her damp eyelids before drawing her to him in an embrace.

"Why'd you come back?" She spoke the words into his chest as she returned his hug. Relief caused as many tears to be shed as grief had previously.

"I dunno." Alec gently kissed the top of Max's head. "Guess I just saw the light."


	6. December 23 2021 to December 24 2021

_A/N: Sorry if this seems like I've just randomly spat words on the page, I'm in a rush. It's Xmas Eve and... actally, it's 2.30am now so it's Chrismas Day! Merry Christmas everyone! Anyway, I still have to write the story for the 12 Fic's of Christmas thread at Nuns With Pens, which this whole saga has been leading up to... Santa's gonna get such a shock when he arrives to see me still sitting here typing! And instead of offering him a plate of cookies and a glass of beer, I could ask him to proof read for me!_

* * *

**Repercussions - Chapter Six**

Cuando amor no es locura, no es amor. 

---------------------------------------------------------

**December 23, 2021**

Sometimes it's hard to let yourself go and forget the values, beliefs and annoying little habits you've taken such care to instil into your life to keep you safe. To keep people away. To keep yourself from facing betrayal and consequently spending your life back in a concrete room with a cockroach called George for a roommate and a sideways optometrist with a name you can never quite remember, to perform daily eye tests with a fandangled red laser and a whole world of hurt.

One would think after all that had happened in the past two weeks, Max and Alec would by now be recovering from a night of hot monkey sex on the living room floor and sleeping like satisfied little rabbits.

But no.

Nuns would find it difficult, hell, impossible to pass up an opportunity to ravish such a fine specimen of perfection such as Alec. But unfortunately, we're talking about Max here. And she's clueless when it comes to knowing what's best for herself. Blame it on her childhood, blame it on the planetary alignment of the moon and the stars. Personally, I blame it on the fact that she's lost the key to her chastity belt and is too embarrassed to admit it. It's really the only logical explanation…

* * *

"So it's back to normal with you and my boo huh?"

Alec stared wistfully across the room to where Max stood at the bar in wait of their latest round of beer. "I guess so."

Original Cindy rolled her eyes to the ceiling and tried to remain calm. "Oh my god! Don't tell me you two are _still_ at each other's throats?"

Alec frowned in thought. He had almost allowed himself the luxury of believing after everything that had come to pass between them, Max would be more receptive towards him than this. Funny, Logan probably wondered the same thing himself. Alec had at last rested on the conclusion that Max was either A-sexual or harbouring lesbian tendencies and trying desperately to suppress them.

Suddenly a hand lashed out and slapped him across the back of his head.

"Holy crap OC! What was that for?"

"I heard that fool!"

"But I didn't say anything!"

"You didn't need to suga. Original Cindy's gaydar works on many different frequencies. My boo is not A-sexual."

OC turned away with a smile and muttered. "Unless the A stands for Alec."

"I heard that." Alec smirked as he turned to encounter Max standing behind him, one hand on hip, the other holding a pitcher of beer.

"Heard what?"

Alec took in the arched eyebrow and sulky pout of the petite brunette before him and the cocky grin made a familiar return to his face. He could tell a little white lie or let her in on the discussion. The latter was certainly a much more interesting option.

As he opened his mouth to respond, she slammed the jug of beer onto the table and stepped closer, a finger posed before him in warning as a smile briefly flitted her face. She knew by the look on his face that he was about to deliver some smart ass remark.

"Hey, think before you speak boy. Don't make me drag you into an alley and rough-handle you!" She forced the grin from her face at the thought.

Alec's grin widened further. "Will you?"

Max paused, her mind suddenly tangling in her words. Looking around the crowded bar, she couldn't help but wonder it would pay to get some fresh air…

"Alec, just shut up and go invite your friend over there to the table. She's looking kinda lonely."

Chasing thoughts of Alec and alley-ways out of her mind, Max pushed him towards Match with a small secretive smile. One that he returned before melting into the crowd.

"Okay, straight up boo. Exactly _what_ is going on with you and your boy?"

Cindy came to stand before her friend, forcing her to tear her doe-eyes off the guy and focus on the question at hand. "Are you two kickin' it for real or are you in heat?"

Max ducked her head and bit her lip, suppressing a smile. "No way. As Alec said yesterday, it's just 'business as usual'."

"My ass! You can't fool Original Cindy, something has changed between you two. Now fess up!"

"Nothing's changed OC! I'm tellin ya straight up!'"

Max smiled into her glass of beer as her friend shook her head in exasperation and reached across the table for the pitcher. As Max watched Alec laugh with Match across the room, she pushed away the last of her jealousy and allowed her mind to slip into memory of the night before.

_ --- flashback --- >_

Alec surveyed the large unwelcome Christmas tree and looked at the broken angel in Max's hand. Wiping the tears from her eyes, he stood up and pulled her to her feet with him. She looked up and met his eyes, a war of emotions raged in the dark orbs as relief, confusion, desire and anger battled for control. He wondered if she was angry at him for bailing, or if it was aimed at someone else.

"I should kick your ass for scaring me like that Alec."

Alec smiled softly as he stroked Max's hair. "You don't know how happy it makes me to hear that."

She shifted her head to look up at him, their eyes locking together as each felt the electricity spark, but neither making a move to explore this phenomenon.

"Yeah well, you don't know how happy I am to have your ass here right now."

He bit back a quip and searched her eyes, wondering if that was an invitation he could see shining out of them, but unsure if now was the right time to try and find out. The bruises upon both of them were still evident. Both physically and emotionally. This wasn't something he wanted to rush.

"I'm so sorry Alec."

She looked away, suddenly ashamed. The words were unfamiliar to her but she meant them no less. But she knew it would take more than a few small words to make up for all the hurt she'd caused.

"It's okay Max. I should never have kissed you in the alley anyway.That was meant to be Logan's job. God knows you two had waited long enough."

Swallowing had suddenly become a difficult task. It was strange how his words could make her feel so disappointed. She berated herself for desiring absolution. She didn't deserve his forgiveness. Now he seemed to think it was all his fault when she had caused this whole sordid mess. And now he regretted that kiss…  
--- end flashback --- >

"Don't worry boo, there'll be no shortage of mistletoe at the party. Original Cindy's made sure of that."

"Huh?" Max snapped out of her daydream and looked to her friend, unsure of what she was talking about.

"Mistletoe at the Christmas party. You know?" She sighed at Max's blank look. "It's the tradition to smooch under a mistletoe branch fool!"

"Then everyone will be lining up to kiss him!" Max's mood slid even further downhill at the thought.

OC smiled at the confirmation her friend had just unwittingly given her. "Oh but none of the other Manticorians know what it's for. Original Cindy's made sure of that too."

Max shrugged and looked away, trying to appear as if she didn't care either way. But she couldn't stop the blush that rose to her cheeks.

* * *

"Now, your not trying to make Max jealous again by talking to me are you?"

Alec's smile fell as shame filled him. "Look Match, I wasn't hanging out with you just to make her jealous. I know I shouldn't have -"

"It's okay Alec. I understand." She smiled softly. "I was just pullin ya leg."

He rolled his eyes at her and glanced back towards Max, who appeared lost in her own little world.

"Hey how 'bout ya come join us at the table? I promise Max won't shoot daggers at you." He adopted his best puppy dog look as he pleaded with his friend.

"Maybe next time round. I need to get some sleep." She glanced at Max and grinned. "Looks to me as if you two enjoy picking on each other. Am I right?"

"Well, 'terms of affection' would be my way of describing it." He cocked his head to one side as he analysed the numerous arguments they'd had together in the past and with any luck, would continue to have. "Some people have pet names like 'cupcake' and 'sweetie-pie'... Max prefers the more bad ass combinations such as 'jackass' and 'screw-up'."

"And you love this girl why?" Match shook her head and laughed.

Alec paused, neither denying nor confirming her insinuation. "Let's just say, if Max traded in 'jackass' for 'cupcake' I'd be running in the opposite direction. She wouldn't be Max anymore."

"Well, just don't forget what drove out 494 in the first place."

"Months of trying to forget Manticore ever existed Match. That's what did it." His eyes narrowed in seriousness as he held her stare.  
Max had fessed up about Joshua's reason for knocking him out. He remembered none of it, but was deeply ashamed nonetheless. It was something he knew he could never forgive himself for, but thanked small mercies that this was one incident which she could.

"And I wouldn't be surprised to hear of that happening to a lot more of us in time to come."

Match nodded in understanding. At times she could feel the same rage crawling beneath her skin like a demon trying to carve words onto her flesh. There'd come a day when Terminal City would seem like a saucepan filled with exploding corn.

"Perhaps we can call the experience a rite of passage and give the soldiers a branding if they pass the test?"

Alec laughed. "Go home Match."

* * *

Max noticed the redhead leave and walked over to where Alec now sat staring into space. She was half fearful that he'd slip away inside his mind again.

"Hey you." Max slid into the seat before him and rested her hands on the bar.

He looked up and smiled. "Hey yourself."

Neither spoke for a moment and at last Alec felt he could bear her silence no longer.

"You know, I wish I could take things back to the way things were before." Her eyebrows raised in surprise and he reached out to idly play with her fingers.

"You want things to be like they were before?" Her eyebrows raised further as the words sank in.

"Yeah. You know, before Logan came along with the elixir of life. Back when Max was Max and I was the annoying thorn in your side."

"You want things to be like they were before." This time it wasn't a question but a statement made in disbelief.

"I mean, it's not like I crave being your ever-humiliated sidekick or anything, I could do without the humiliation and your continuous statements of how much you wish I would get out of your life... but ya know, I do enjoy seeing your eyes light up when I piss you off."

He flashed her a cocky grin as he turned her hands over in his and began to stroke her palm.

She stared dumbfound at their entwined hands, his touch making her heart accelerate as his words made her wonder exactly what he was talking about.

"Why?" It was a simple question. Perhaps it would inspire a simple answer.

"Cuando amor no es locura, no es amor."

Perhaps not.

"What the hell does that mean Alec?"

Max felt her mind flared in sudden annoyance as she realised the only word she had understood was 'madness'. Was he calling her crazy?

Alec laughed at her frustration. "Figure it out."

He left her there with the trademark pout on her face and walked casually through the crowded bar and into the night.

When love is not madness, it is not love.

* * *

**December 24, 2021**

"Hey Big Fella. How's the decorating going?"

Joshua looked up in surprise as he was exiting the large warehouse where the Christmas Party was to be held the following day.

"Hey Little Fella. It's all done. All set to go."

She tried to step around him to have a peek inside but he blocked her path. "Uh-Max, what are you doing?"

"I just wanna have a look!"

Joshua took her by the shoulders and pushed her back. "No! It's a surprise!"

Grinning, Max tried to dodge around him but she may as well have been a fourteen year old trying to bargin with a bouncer. A bouncer with considerably noxious dog-breath at that.

Holding her hands up in surrender, Max stepped back. "Hey Josh, do you know where Alec is?"

"Nope" Hey eyed her up suspiciously and decided to jam the door shut. "You got him a present yet?"

Max's jaw dropped in dismay. "Oh. No. I didn't think of... Oh no!"

She felt utterly embarrassed. Claiming ignorance of Christmas traditions wouldn't work either considering Joshua knew these things and he'd spent the majority of his life confined to a basement.

"It's okay Max. I've got your present for Alec." He grinned and clasped and arm around her shoulders as he led her to his apartment. "Come see. Look for Alec later."

* * *

Terminal City didn't offer much in the way of retail when it came to last minute Christmas shopping. Alec figured the stores would be packed but, this place was dead!

He laughed at his crazy thoughts as he made his way through empty buildings that had already been picked clean by 10 years worth of desperate vagabonds followed by a nation of exiled lab experiments.

"This is impossible!" He kicked an empty box across the floor and chewed his bottom lip in thought. Perhaps he'd just try one more building and then go see if Joshua would lend him some art supplies.

"What inspired you to make sculptures of me and Alec?" Max's tone was light and conversational as she tried to hide her curiosity.

Joshua grinned and walked over to his box of candle stubs and melted wax pieces he had scrounged from who-knows-where. Picking up a stick of blue and a lighter, he began to melt was onto his newest design before turning to Max.

"I see my two best friends unhappy. I know why they don't smile. Want to fix them."

Max forced a grin and her voice shot a decibel higher, "But I am happy, I'm smiling!"

Joshua shook his head and laughed. "Can't fool me, Little Fella."

Sighing, she slumped into a seat, leaning into it as she closed her eyes in weary defeat. "Well what am I supposed to do? Tell me, because I honestly don't know."

The transhuman nearly barked in excitement as he lumbered over to a corner of the room and pulled out a roll of exquisite wrapping paper he'd discovered a long time ago in the storeroom of an abandoned shop.

"Here." He cut off a piece of the delicate paper and began with great care, to wrap the 'Max' figure. "Give him this."

She looked down at the package he thrust into her hands and tried to hand it back to him. "Joshua, I can't! What will you give him?"

The dog-boy grinned. "Alec doesn't expect a present from me. But he'd like one from Max."

She smiled as she rose from the seat. "Thanks Joshua! That's so sweet of you!"

"That's okay Max." As she hugged him, he squeezed her tightly and whispered in her ear. "Just pay me later in ham hocks."

* * *

Finally giving up, Alec turned to Joshua's place. He was leaving it a bit late but perhaps he could make her a statue of Aphrodite or something.

The transhuman grinned with delight when he opened the door, and welcomed Alec inside.

"Josh, I need your help! I haven't got Max a present and I thought perhaps you could let me use some of your -"

Joshua jumped on the spot and gawfed. "It's okay Alec. I've got just the thing..."

**TBC...**


	7. December 25 2021

**Final Looong Author Note:**This fic was never posted here until now as it was my submission for Nuns With Pens 2002 _12 Fics of Christmas_ event. It was meant to work as a standalone, as well as a conclusion to the previous 6 chapters. Unfortunately, as the other chapters had been churned out every couple of days for two weeks so that the dates of the story would match with the dates in real life, I was absolutely knackered and my muse was bone dry by the time I wrote this. All an all it was an anti-climatic sappy mushy pile of sentmental goo. With no smut to boot:P (Something I think the majority of NWP readers were expecting after all this time!) But on the plus side, at least I finally finished a series! Of course, then I went on to write a sequel called _Locura_, which drew sod all readers so I gave up after chapter two and still have a half-written chapter three sitting in my Unfinished Projects folder. sigh Okay enough ramblings, on with the story...

* * *

**Repercussions - Chapter Seven (Rebirth)**

**by Sorrow Reminisce**

Change is the constant, the signal for rebirth, the egg of the phoenix.  
--------------------------------------

**December 25, 2021**

As the sun was only just beginning to chase away the darkness of night, Max woke to feel strong arms wrapped gently around her and a warm body pressed against her own.

Considering she had gone to bed alone the night before and her relationship status was of no fixed abode, this should have alarmed her. But fortunately for the person who lay beside her on the bed, she was glad of the company. Although, the same thing could not have been said when she'd been jolted her out of dreamland at three in the morning.

"Ma-aaax"

She heard the voice. She just wanted to ignore the voice. It wasn't often she managed to sleep and when she could, REM wasn't something she let go of kindly.

"Hey Max, wake up!"

Perhaps if she ignored it long enough, the voice would go away.

"MAX!"

That did it. Yelling in a girl's ear was not a wise way to gain attention. Rolling over in preparation for a serious verbal battle, Max encountered a wide-eyed smiling Alec beside her, looking as bright and chirpy as any budding young schizophrenic would be at this hour of the morning.

"Alec! What the hell are you doing in my room?"

He paused in his bed bouncing to shrug nonchalantly. "Oh, you know, I was just bored is all."

Seeing her fiery glare, he laughed as his eyes lit up once more. "Come on Max! Where's your Christmas spirit?"

"Hibernating for the winter." She rolled over towards the wall and threw the blankets over her head. "Like I would like to be."

* * *

With his eyes still closed, Alec listened to Max's breathing pattern change and knew she too was awake. He didn't want to move in case she pulled away, and so he pretended to be asleep. After all, there was still the chance that she might fully wake up and kick his ass for being here. 

"You've gone quiet Alec. Why?"

Although Max's voice was soft and surprisingly gentle, Alec couldn't help but chuckle at her. The girl just couldn't stop complaining for one minute. She even had to question his silence.

"I'm just thinking Maxie. Why are you so anal about life? It's like you're the direct descendant of the Grinch or something?"

He noticed Max stiffen beside him. "Who's the Grinch?"

"Oh don't worry - you'd only hit me if I told you." He ran a hand through his hair before continuing.

"Why can't you just loosen up and have fun for one night? God. This is my first Christmas and I plan to eat, drink and be merry. By my concern is, how am I supposed to do all that when you're busy trying to shut Christmas away out of sight?"

Max suddenly sat up and sighed deeply. And then began to whack him about the head with her pillow.

"Alec - it's three in the morning! I'm not trying to shut Christmas out of sight, I'm trying to shut you out of sight!"

She fell back to the bed with a thud and turned away. Alec grinned in the darkness. He loved pissing her off.

* * *

Max stared into the fading darkness, wondering if she really was being a spoilsport. After all, it was Christmas. And not only that, having spent the past three weeks realising she actually cared about the smart-ass beside her, she could at least try and express such feelings in a manner appropriate. 

"You see, I was thinking…"

She released an exasperated groan as Alec began to chatter once more.

"I know we got the made up part over and done with, but what about the kiss?"

"What the hell are you on about now?"

Max suppressed the urge to roll over and whack the nonsense out of him but by the laughter in his voice, this was undoubtedly the very action he hoped she would take. A ploy for attention she simply refused to fall for.

"OC told us to kiss and make up, but I never got that kiss."

Gentle fingertips brushed hair from the nape of Max's neck, startling her so much that she turned towards Alec, eyebrows furrowed in surprise. He lay facing her, his head inches away from her own and a soft smile on his face. She couldn't help but shiver deliciously at his touch. And so of course she jerked her head away.

"Sorry to break it to you Alec, but there's no such thing as miracles in real life."

Well what exactly defined an appropriate manner anyway? Cutesy words and bashful smiles just didn't sit with her. She preferred affectionate annoyance. It was much more fun and far less prissy. Besides, arguing with Alec challenged her and enabled her to develop those fly insults she liked to deliver to the bad guys while she was kicking ass.

* * *

"Alec, why are you here at three o'clock in the morning anyway?"

Max spoke barely above a whisper, soft and shivery and Alec detected a tremble in her voice. He replied in a tone of subdued excitement as his lips turned up into a boyish smile.

"Well Maxie, it's Christmas Eve - and this is my first Christmas! I was too excited to sleep so I thought I'd come share some of my cheer with you."

He had come to share this moment with her. That thought turned her insides out and she couldn't help but return his smile.

"Hey you know, I've never celebrated Christmas before either."

"Yeah. I can tell."

His laughter was cut off by a sharp knee to his thigh. "Oow.. But for more obvious reasons, neither have any of us here. That's why we've gotta make it so damned special - so for a few hours we can stop worrying how long we're gonna be in this world and enjoy ourselves."

Max smiled into the darkness. "Gotta keep up moral huh?"

Alec brushed a stray hair from across Max's face and she shivered beneath his touch. His voice deepened and grew husky as he tried to keep his mind focused on the conversation at hand.

"Indeed we do. I'm sure that the rest of the world will be too busy doing their own thing to bother with us. Just for Christmas day, we can pretend we're welcome in this world."

They had drifted off to sleep after that. But now Max snuggled in towards Alec and wondered whether to wake him. He was so excited about this day - his first Christmas. But it was still early, and she didn't want to have to break away from him once he woke. Festivities could wait, she just wanted to savour the fresh new experience of having someone to wake up next to. Hopefully, it wouldn't be the last time she'd know this pleasure.

* * *

Alec heard Max's breaths lengthen and knew she had drifted back to sleep. Wondering if it really was his life's mission to annoy her, he leant over the edge of the bed and picked up a finely wrapped gift. Joshua was adamant that he had to give it to her and this just couldn't wait any longer. 

"Hey Max, wake up!"

Snapping her eyes open she sat up and prepared to deliver Alec a random stream of abuse for waking her - again.

But at the sight of the gift he held in his hands, he face softened into a smile and the insults faded away.

"Thank you Alec!"

She smiled shyly and pulled open the paper, her half-asleep mind not registering that she had seen the wrapping paper before.

Pulling the object out from the torn paper, she smiled in delight at the strange object in her hands made of melted candle wax, he mind understanding at once what it was.

In recent weeks, Joshua had been experimenting with new materials for his inspirations and this was one of his latest creations. The twisting mass of multicoloured wax was as abstract as 'Joshua 1', and filled with hidden meaning to those who wished to see its message.

"Actually, Joshua gave it to me to give to you. I sorry but I didn't.."

She waved his apology away and quickly stood up and stepped across the room. Pulling a similar package out from her closet, Max handed it to Alec. "Merry Christmas Alec!"

He grinned as his mind made the connection between her present and his, and opened the parcel to find a sculpture similar the one he had given Max.

As he was about to thank her, she took the sculpture from his hands and placed it next to her own. His eyes widened in surprise as the two halves fit together to form a whole. "And in his own way, this is Joshua's gift to us."

They both understood what the transhuman had been expressing in his art. Max and Alec were meant to be together.

* * *

"Open the door!" 

Alec looked away from Max and made a move to stand. "Come on Max, we're being summoned."

She groaned and rubbed the last of the sleep from her eyes, wishing the interruption had come at a better time.

As Alec opened the door, OC's eye's widened at the sight of him in Max's apartment with hair tussled by sleep, and briefly wondered if someone had slipped GBH into Max's drink the night before. If so, she wanted to find the fiend and kiss him.

"Hel-looo Alec!" She gave him a knowing smile and strode past. "I'm not even gonna ask what's goin' on here. But you better hurry up and get your asses to the Christmas Party. You've slept the morning away and now Mole's gettin' impatient for lunch. Not that I wanna be there to see what _that_ one eats..."

"Good things come to those who wait OC." Ignoring her friend's smug look, Max breezed past her and linked her arm through Alec's.

"Okay, let's go."

* * *

Joshua and his team of budding young X6 Picassos had completely revamped an old abandoned warehouse for the purpose of Terminal City's Christmas celebration. 

The bare concrete walls had been transformed by vivid splashes of colour, and from the ceiling hung the star he had so carefully woven together with wire - the signal light to lead the transgenics home. Most stunning of all, was the nativity centerpeice all transgenics could relate to. A great fiery phoenix made of paper mache and rising up from the ashes of its past.

Around them, transgenics of all known variety relaxed and allowed the weight of their world to lift from tired shoulders. They didn't understand what Christmas meant to the ordinaries, nor were they interested. Instead they created their own reason to celebrate.

In mythology, the bird would build a nest and set itself on fire when it cycle of life had drawn to a close. It would then be consumed by the flames and a new one would spring from it's predecessor's ashes. As Joshua's flag had brought the transgenics together as a nation, so did this great mythological bird symbolise their journey from the ashes of Manticore as the birth of their new life. A transgenic rebirth.

"Oh wow!" Max stared around the room in wonder and turned to Alec. "Can you believe how amazing this is?"

"That's Joshua for ya - our very own Activities Co-ordinator." He smiled back at her and stepped further inside the building.

They continued to stare around them in amazement. Christmas would have been just another day to the transgenics if Joshua hadn't claimed he could make the event actually symbolise something to the ex-Manticorians. And indeed he had.

Alec leant close to Max and whispered in her ear, "You know, Logan would stress about the complete irrelevance to Christmas."

She smiled up at him. "Then isn't it just as well Logan's not here?"

* * *

The afternoon rolled into evening and everyone made the most of the festivities. Dix had produced an old stereo to he had repaired and assorted music played from the speakers. OC spent a large part of the day chasing after her two favourite X5's with a sprig of Mistletoe and Joshua was dubbed 'the spirit of Christmas' and given a Wreath of Honour to wear on his head. 

"Hey Max! Come stand under the mistletoe with me!"

Alec grabbed Max around the waist and proceeded to drag her towards the green leaves and berries OC had left lying on a table.

Laughing, she fought to push him away, although her efforts were half-hearted. "Hell no! We've ditched every other Christmas tradition, we're gonna lose that one too!"

She squirmed in his arms and eventually broke free, dancing backwards as she waited for him to lunge at her again.

"Hey, isn't that Match?" She gestured behind him to change the subject.

He turned to see his friend sitting alone at a table, a wistful expression on her face as she watched everyone celebrate around her.

"Hey Match!"

She looked up and waved, a smile lighting her face at the sight of the two X5's. "Well it's good to see you two have sorted your differences out at last!"

Alec grinned as he feigned ignorance. "I don't know what you're talking about?"

She rolled her eyes and shook her head in amusement before her attention fell to a different direction. Turning to follow her stare, Alec encountered Sketchy.

"Sketch! What are you doing here!"

The Jam Pony messenger smiled broadly. "Heard there was a party, thought I'd crash."

Alec's eyes lit up in thought. Taking his friend by the arm, he led him to the table where Match sat.

"Match, I'd like you to meet my good friend Sketchy."

She looked at him wearily and crossed her hands across her chest. Rembembering her animosity towards humankind, he continued. "Oh don't worry, he's not an ordinary - he's extraordinary!"

Looking up into the warm innocent eyes of a blonde haired ordinary, she couldn't help but smile at his goofy grin as he stretched out his hand to introduce himself.

"Hey, uhh… I'm Sketchy, I'm a buddy of… umm… of Max and uh… Alec." Trying hard to stop fumbling over his words, Sketchy took a calm collecting breath before continuing.

"Mind if I umm… interview you?"

* * *

Alec turned back to Max who was still studying the phoenix and wandered over to stand by her side. 

"So Max…"

Having decided to pull the stick out of her butt for at least one day, she turned a bright sunny smile in his direction. Alec laughed nervously at the thought of how much she was about to kick his ass.

"So I notice we've got our own traditions going on here and that's okay right?"

She stared at him without comprehension, intent on studying the look in his eyes, wondering why it scared yet excited her so much. "Yeah. I guess so."

"Excellent!"

Before she realised what was happening Alec stepped closer and cupped her face in his hands. She stood in frozen surprise as he leant in and placed a gentle kiss on her lips.

Max closed her eyes and let herself give in to the feelings he provoked within her. The warmth and closeness of him felt so right. As she was about to draw her arms around him and deepen the kiss, he pulled away, a soft smile on his face.

"What the hell kind of tradition was that?" She smiled as her lips and mind still tingled from his touch.

"I have no idea." He grinned and pulled her closer. "I was just looking for an excuse to kiss you."

She stared at him in utter puzzlement as he waited for the blows to start raining down upon him, then broke into a smile of her own and pulled him toward her to finish what he'd started.

Yip. Things had definitely changed between them.

**THE END**

Well, actually no it's not. Don't forget to check out the sequel, _Locura! Rolls eyes_


End file.
